White 412 vs Black 44
White starts from setup 412 (RBQNNKBR), Black from setup 44 (NBNQRKBR). In the encyclopedia since 2026-10-03: neither side starts better.
|cp| ≤ 5 at 400M · 800M · 1.6B · 4B nodes, two independent engines agree
The two setups
White: setup #412 R B Q N N K B R
King on the f-file, rooks on a, h, queen on the c-file; no bishop starts in a corner; the knights start on central files. Castling follows the Chess960 rule: king and rook end on the classical squares. In ordinary symmetric play setup 412 gives White +0.22 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #44 N B N Q R K B R
King on the f-file, rooks on e, h, queen on the d-file; no bishop starts in a corner; the knights start away from the centre. Castling follows the Chess960 rule: king and rook end on the classical squares. In ordinary symmetric play setup 44 gives White +0.09 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Why the pair is balanced
At the deepest rungs (400M, 800M, 1.6B nodes) the evaluation is exactly 0.00 each time, reaching search depth 61.
Admission rule: |cp| ≤ 5 at four budgets up to 4 billion nodes, no one-sided drift along the ladder, and confirmation by two independent engines — Berserk and Lc0 — each below its own median on symmetric positions.
The shallow rungs wandered between -13 and +20 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 412 gives White +0.22 and setup 44 gives White +0.09: with both sides on the same rank the first move is worth something. In this pair Black's own setup absorbs that edge completely.
White is not forced into a single path: the best first move is d4, and 2 first moves are within 10 cp of it.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the largest swing was 42 cp (around move 18), ending at +12 cp — the position stays playable for both sides.
Engine self-play agrees: 10 games, White won 2, drawn 8, Black won 0 (White scored 60.0%).
Verification ladder
Nine independent searches of the starting position, each with a larger node budget. Evaluation in centipawns from White's point of view.
| Stage | Nodes | Depth | Eval, cp | Main line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S0 | 100 000 | 14 | +20 | 1. h4 h5 2. d4 d5 3. Bh2 Nab6 4. Kg1 Bh7 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 17 | +4 | 1. c4 e5 2. f3 c6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bxd4 f6 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 21 | +4 | 1. h4 e5 2. c4 f6 3. Bh2 c5 4. h5 Nc7 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 25 | -12 | 1. c4 e5 2. h4 f6 3. h5 c6 4. Bh2 Bc7 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 32 | -13 | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qxc4 Nab6 4. Qc3 e5 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 48 | 0 | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qxc4 Nab6 4. Qc3 e5 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 57 | 0 | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qxc4 Nab6 4. Qc3 e5 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 59 | 0 | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qxc4 Nab6 4. Qc3 e5 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 61 | 0 | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qxc4 Nab6 4. Qc3 e5 |
Deep verification
The search ladder reaches 1.6 billion nodes; admission needs a 4-billion rung and two further engines on top of that. Beyond even that, every pair was re-checked at budgets up to ten times larger and in thousands of self-play games. This section shows what each check returned for this pair.
| Nodes | Eval, cp |
|---|---|
| 4 000 000 000 | not checked |
| 8 000 000 000 | not checked |
| 16 000 000 000 | not checked |
This pair held exactly 0.00 up to 1 600 000 000 nodes.
Independent engines, run on the same position:
- Berserk 14: 0
- Lc0 0.32.1: +3
Independent confirmations: 2 of 3. An engine counts as confirming when its reading of the pair is closer to equality than its own reading of a typical symmetric Chess960 position (+10 for Berserk, +18 for Lc0). Where only one engine confirms, the pair is balanced according to that engine alone, and this page says so.
Own weight of each setup, measured against the classical array: White +36, Black +80, difference -44. A balanced pair needs White's setup to be weaker by about the price of the first move.
Extended self-play: 10 games, 2 White wins, 8 draws, 0 Black wins, White scored 60.0%.
Best first moves
The 3 best first moves for White, searched together at 400 000 000 nodes.
| # | Eval, cp | Depth | Main line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -7 | 41 | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qxc4 Nab6 4. Qc3 e5 5. f3 exd4 |
| 2 | -16 | 41 | 1. c4 e5 |
| 3 | -28 | 40 | 1. h4 d5 2. d4 c6 3. a4 f6 4. h5 Nd6 5. Bh2 e5 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 42 cp, mean 15.2 cp, final +12 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | c4 | +1 | e5 | -13 |
| 2 | h4 | 0 | f6 | 0 |
| 3 | h5 | -5 | Bf7 | -1 |
| 4 | f3 | -4 | c6 | -25 |
| 5 | h6 | -10 | g6 | -20 |
| 6 | d4 | -21 | d5 | -29 |
| 7 | dxe5 | -21 | fxe5 | -6 |
| 8 | Be3 | -9 | dxc4 | 0 |
| 9 | Bg5 | -6 | Qc7 | -7 |
| 10 | b3 | -2 | b5 | -12 |
| 11 | Nc2 | 0 | O-O | 0 |
| 12 | Nce3 | 0 | Nab6 | 0 |
| 13 | Ng4 | +37 | Bd5 | +41 |
| 14 | e4 | +40 | Be6 | +21 |
| 15 | Nf6+ | +32 | Rxf6 | +28 |
| 16 | Bxf6 | +25 | a5 | +28 |
| 17 | Bh4 | +26 | b4 | +28 |
| 18 | bxc4 | +42 | Nxc4 | +26 |
| 19 | Bd3 | +20 | N8d6 | +11 |
| 20 | O-O | +19 | Ba7+ | +11 |
| 21 | Bf2 | +24 | c5 | +19 |
| 22 | Bc2 | +25 | Nf7 | +20 |
| 23 | Bb3 | +16 | Na3 | +29 |
| 24 | Bxe6 | +19 | Rxe6 | +10 |
| 25 | Ne3 | +8 | c4 | +9 |
| 26 | Nd5 | +11 | Bxf2+ | +5 |
| 27 | Kxf2 | +11 | Qc8 | +12 |
| 28 | f4 | +13 | Qc5+ | +11 |
| 29 | Kg3 | +8 | c3 | +9 |
| 30 | fxe5 | +12 | Nc4 | +12 |
Engine self-play
10 games at 500 000 nodes per move: White won 2, drawn 8, Black won 0 — White scored 60.0%. Average length 41.0 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. h4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. h5 f6 4. Ne3 Nd6 5. d3 cxd3 6. Nxd3 c6 7. f3 Nc7 8. a4 Bf7 9. Bf2 a5 10. g3 Nd5 11. Ng4 Be6 12. Ne3 Bf7 13. Ng4 O-O 14. Nc5 e5 15. e4 b6 16. Na6 Nb4 17. Nxb4 axb4 18. Qxc6 Nc4 19. h6 Na5 20. Qxb6 Qxb6 21. Bxb6 Nb3 22. Ra2 Nc1 23. Ra1 Nb3 24. Ra2 Nc1 25. Ra1 Nb3
Sample game 2 (1-0)
1. c4 c6 2. h4 e5 3. h5 Nc7 4. Bh2 f6 5. d4 d6 6. Nf3 e4 7. Nh4 d5 8. cxd5 cxd5 9. f3 Bf7 10. Nf5 O-O 11. Nde3 Ne7 12. Bd6 Nxf5 13. Nxf5 Qd7 14. g4 Ne6 15. Bxf8 exf3 16. Be7 fxe2+ 17. Kf2 Ng5 18. Qe3 Be6 19. Bb4 a5 20. Bd2 g6 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. Nh6+ Kg7 23. Qxe2 Qc7 24. Bxg6 Kxg6 25. Bxg5 Qg3+ 26. Kf1 Kxg5 27. Qf2 Qxf2+ 28. Kxf2 Ba7 29. Rad1 Kf4 30. Rhe1 Bb6 31. Nf5 Bf7 32. Rxe8 Bxe8 33. Nd6 Bc6 34. Ke2 a4 35. Rf1+ Kg5 36. Ke3 Bc7 37. Rf5+ Kg6 38. Nc8 Kf7 39. Na7 Bd7 40. Rxd5 Bxg4 41. Nb5 Bg3 42. Nc3 Bh4 43. Kf4 Be6 44. Rb5 Bg5+ 45. Kf3 Kf8 46. Rxb7 Bf7 47. Rb4 Bh5+ 48. Kf2 f5 49. Rxa4 Bh4+ 50. Kf1 Bg4 51. Rb4 Bh3+ 52. Kg1 f4 53. d5 Bg3 54. Ne2 Be1 55. Rxf4+ Kg7 56. Nc3 Kg6 57. a4 Bd2 58. Rf3 Bd7 59. a5 Bg5 60. Kg2 Kg7 61. a6 Bc8 62. Rg3 Bxa6 63. Rxg5+ Kf6 64. Ne4+ Ke7 65. Kf3 Kd7 66. Nc5+ Kc7 67. Nxa6+
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 412 / 44 in the app's encyclopedia, then choose how to play.
- Local game — two players on one device, with a clock.
- With a mentor — a clearly labelled training bot with hints, at your level.
- Challenge a friend — an online game by link; both players get the same pair, colours swap on rematch.
Play this pair against the computer, right here Play a friend
FEN (Shredder, castling rights by rook files): nbnqrkbr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RBQNNKBR w AHeh - 0 1
Mirror twin (the same position mirrored): White 748 vs Black 924.