White 449 vs Black 19
White starts from setup 449 (BRNBNKQR), Black from setup 19 (BNQNRKRB). 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 #449 B R N B N K Q R
King on the f-file, rooks on b, h, queen on the g-file; one 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 449 gives White +0.14 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #19 B N Q N R K R B
King on the f-file, rooks on e, g, queen on the c-file; one 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 19 gives White +0.30 (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 58.
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 -21 and +16 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 449 gives White +0.14 and setup 19 gives White +0.30: 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 f4, and 2 first moves are within 10 cp of it.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the largest swing was 52 cp (around move 11), ending at 0 cp — the position stays playable for both sides.
Engine self-play agrees: 10 games, White won 0, drawn 10, Black won 0 (White scored 50.0%).
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 | 15 | +16 | 1. b4 d6 2. f4 b6 3. Qf2 e5 4. O-O exf4 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 18 | 0 | 1. b4 O-O 2. f4 b6 3. Qf2 g6 4. Bxh8 Kxh8 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 23 | -21 | 1. b4 b6 2. f4 O-O 3. Qf2 g6 4. O-O Bxa1 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 34 | -11 | 1. b4 b6 2. f4 O-O 3. Qf2 d6 4. O-O Nd7 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 37 | -16 | 1. b4 b6 2. f4 d6 3. Qe3 O-O 4. O-O c5 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 40 | +4 | 1. f4 b6 2. b4 d6 3. Qe3 Nd7 4. O-O O-O |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 47 | 0 | 1. b4 b6 2. f4 d6 3. Qe3 e5 4. O-O Nd7 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 57 | 0 | 1. b4 b6 2. f4 d6 3. Qe3 e5 4. O-O Nd7 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 58 | 0 | 1. b4 b6 2. f4 d6 3. Qe3 e5 4. O-O Nd7 |
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: -6
- Lc0 0.32.1: -9
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 +32, Black +80, difference -48. A balanced pair needs White's setup to be weaker by about the price of the first move.
Extended self-play: 10 games, 0 White wins, 10 draws, 0 Black wins, White scored 50.0%.
Best first moves
The 3 best first moves for White, searched together at 400 000 000 nodes.
| # | Eval, cp | Depth | Main line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +13 | 42 | 1. f4 b6 2. b4 d6 3. Qe3 e5 4. O-O exf4 5. Qxf4 O-O |
| 2 | +7 | 42 | 1. b4 d6 2. f4 b6 3. Qe3 e5 4. O-O exf4 5. Qxf4 O-O |
| 3 | -14 | 41 | 1. c4 g6 2. f3 c5 3. b4 Bxa1 4. Rxa1 b6 5. bxc5 bxc5 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 52 cp, mean 22.3 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | b4 | -12 | b6 | -22 |
| 2 | h4 | -15 | d6 | -33 |
| 3 | c4 | -39 | e5 | -41 |
| 4 | Qh2 | -31 | Nd7 | -34 |
| 5 | e3 | -41 | f5 | -47 |
| 6 | d4 | -42 | g6 | -35 |
| 7 | Ne2 | -48 | Nf7 | -42 |
| 8 | Nf3 | -47 | Nf6 | -37 |
| 9 | Ng5 | -34 | O-O | -31 |
| 10 | O-O | -29 | Nxg5 | -38 |
| 11 | hxg5 | -39 | Ne4 | -52 |
| 12 | dxe5 | -42 | Bxe5 | -44 |
| 13 | Bxe5 | -37 | dxe5 | -38 |
| 14 | Ba4 | -31 | f4 | -43 |
| 15 | exf4 | -25 | b5 | -38 |
| 16 | cxb5 | -33 | Nd2 | -21 |
| 17 | Qg3 | -27 | Qf5 | -27 |
| 18 | b6 | -20 | Re7 | -13 |
| 19 | bxc7 | -15 | Nxb1 | -14 |
| 20 | Qb3+ | -17 | Kh8 | -13 |
| 21 | Qxb1 | -7 | Rxc7 | -10 |
| 22 | Qb2 | -13 | Re7 | -7 |
| 23 | f3 | -3 | Qd3 | -5 |
| 24 | Kf2 | 0 | Qa6 | -5 |
| 25 | Bb3 | 0 | Qb6+ | 0 |
| 26 | Kg3 | 0 | Qe3 | 0 |
| 27 | Rd1 | 0 | h5 | 0 |
| 28 | Qd2 | 0 | h4+ | 0 |
| 29 | Kh3 | 0 | exf4 | 0 |
| 30 | Nxf4 | 0 | Qxd2 | 0 |
Engine self-play
10 games at 500 000 nodes per move: White won 0, drawn 10, Black won 0 — White scored 50.0%. Average length 41.6 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. b4 b6 2. f4 O-O 3. Qf2 d6 4. O-O g6 5. Bxh8 Kxh8 6. c4 Nd7 7. e3 c5 8. bxc5 dxc5 9. Nf3 f5 10. Ba4 Nf7 11. d4 Be4 12. Rb3 Rd8 13. Rc3 Nf6 14. Ne2 Rg8 15. Ng5 Nxg5 16. fxg5 Ng4 17. Qg3 cxd4 18. exd4 e5 19. d5 f4 20. Nxf4 exf4 21. Rxf4 Qc5+ 22. Kh1 Rdf8 23. Qxg4 Qd4 24. Rxf8 Rxf8 25. Rc1 h5 26. Qg3 Rf2 27. Rg1 b5 28. Bxb5 a6 29. Bxa6 Bxg2+ 30. Rxg2 Rf1+ 31. Rg1 Rxg1+ 32. Qxg1 Qe4+ 33. Qg2 Qe1+ 34. Qg1 Qe4+ 35. Qg2 Qb1+ 36. Qg1
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. b4 O-O 2. h4 d6 3. h5 Nd7 4. Qh2 e5 5. c4 b6 6. e3 Nf6 7. Ne2 g5 8. f3 h6 9. O-O Bc6 10. Ng3 Bd7 11. Nc2 Qa6 12. Be2 Qxa2 13. Rbc1 b5 14. Bc3 d5 15. cxb5 d4 16. Ba1 Nd5 17. Ne4 Ne6 18. Nxd4 Nxe3 19. dxe3 exd4 20. Bc4 Qa3 21. Rfe1 Qxb4 22. Bxe6 Bxe6 23. Qxc7 Re7 24. Qg3 f5 25. Nc5 dxe3 26. Qd6 Qd2 27. Qxe7 Qf2+ 28. Kh2 Qh4+ 29. Kg1 Qf2+ 30. Kh2 Qh4+ 31. Kg1
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 449 / 19 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): bnqnrkrb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BRNBNKQR w BHeg - 0 1
Mirror twin (the same position mirrored): White 699 vs Black 931.