White 64 vs Black 35
White starts from setup 64 (BBNNRKQR), Black from setup 35 (BNNQRKRB). In the encyclopedia since 2026-10-21: neither side starts better.
|cp| ≤ 5 at 400M · 800M · 1.6B · 4B nodes, two independent engines agree
How to play with different setups
White sets up the pieces by position No. 64, Black by position No. 35, mirrored on their own side; the pawns stand as usual.
Moves as usual: White starts; everything else follows the Chess960 rules.
The two setups
White: setup #64 B B N N R K Q R
King on the f-file, rooks on e, 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 64 gives White +0.31 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #35 B N N Q R K R B
King on the f-file, rooks on e, g, queen on the d-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 35 gives White +0.06 (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 55.
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 same corridor is required at every deeper budget (8 G, 16 G) at which the pair has been evaluated.
The shallow rungs wandered between -18 and +18 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 64 gives White +0.31 and setup 35 gives White +0.06: 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 e4, and 3 first moves are within 10 cp of it.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the largest swing was 38 cp (around move 5), 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 | 14 | +16 | 1. b3 d5 2. h4 Nd6 3. f3 b6 4. c4 dxc4 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 16 | +4 | 1. e4 g6 2. f3 b5 3. Qf2 O-O 4. O-O Nb6 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 21 | -18 | 1. e4 g6 2. f3 b6 3. Qf2 c5 4. c3 e6 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 25 | -8 | 1. e4 g6 2. f3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. d4 dxe4 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 32 | +18 | 1. e4 g6 2. f3 b6 3. d4 f5 4. Qe3 fxe4 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 40 | +9 | 1. e4 g6 2. f3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 48 | 0 | 1. e4 g6 2. f3 Nc6 3. Ne3 e6 4. c3 b5 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 55 | 0 | 1. e4 g6 2. f3 Nc6 3. Ne3 e6 4. c3 b5 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 55 | 0 | 1. e4 g6 2. f3 Nc6 3. Ne3 e6 4. c3 b5 |
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 | 0 |
| 8 000 000 000 | not checked |
| 16 000 000 000 | not checked |
This pair stays within the ±5 cp corridor up to 4 000 000 000 nodes.
Independent engines, run on the same position:
- Berserk 14: 0
- Lc0 0.32.1: -1
Independent confirmations: 3 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 +92, Black +81, difference +11. 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 | +1 | 45 | 1. e4 g6 2. f3 Nc6 3. Ne3 e6 4. c3 b5 5. Qf2 O-O |
| 2 | 0 | 46 | 1. f3 d5 2. b3 b6 3. c4 dxc4 4. bxc4 c5 5. Nb3 g6 |
| 3 | 0 | 46 | 1. b3 d5 2. f3 b6 3. c4 dxc4 4. bxc4 c5 5. Nb3 g6 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 38 cp, mean 10.8 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | e4 | -8 | g6 | -17 |
| 2 | f3 | -1 | b6 | 0 |
| 3 | d4 | +10 | e6 | +21 |
| 4 | Qe3 | +30 | O-O | +32 |
| 5 | c3 | +38 | Bg7 | +35 |
| 6 | O-O | +33 | f5 | +33 |
| 7 | Nf2 | +29 | c5 | +27 |
| 8 | b3 | +25 | cxd4 | +26 |
| 9 | cxd4 | +29 | Nd6 | +25 |
| 10 | Rd1 | +20 | Qh4 | +19 |
| 11 | Ne2 | +23 | Bh6 | +11 |
| 12 | Qc3 | +12 | Rf7 | +25 |
| 13 | Ng3 | +10 | fxe4 | +19 |
| 14 | fxe4 | +10 | Bb7 | +13 |
| 15 | Qe1 | +11 | Ref8 | +8 |
| 16 | Qe2 | +25 | Qg5 | 0 |
| 17 | d5 | +7 | exd5 | +3 |
| 18 | Ng4 | +8 | Rxf1+ | 0 |
| 19 | Nxf1 | +6 | Bg7 | 0 |
| 20 | Bxg7 | 0 | Kxg7 | +1 |
| 21 | exd5 | 0 | Ba6 | 0 |
| 22 | Qb2+ | 0 | Kg8 | 0 |
| 23 | Nfe3 | 0 | h5 | 0 |
| 24 | h4 | 0 | Qxh4 | 0 |
| 25 | Qc2 | 0 | Qg5 | 0 |
| 26 | Nf2 | 0 | Kf7 | 0 |
| 27 | Re1 | 0 | Re8 | 0 |
| 28 | Qd2 | 0 | Re7 | 0 |
| 29 | Qc3 | 0 | Qe5 | 0 |
| 30 | Qd2 | 0 | Qg5 | 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 37.8 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. h4 d5 2. b3 Nd6 3. f3 b6 4. h5 g5 5. Bxh8 Rxh8 6. d4 Nd7 7. Nd3 e6 8. c3 f5 9. g4 Qe7 10. Qe3 O-O-O 11. N1f2 Rde8 12. Ne5 f4 13. Qd2 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Nf7 15. Nd3 c5 16. e3 fxe3 17. Qxe3 Rd8 18. b4 d4 19. cxd4 cxd4 20. Qe2 Kb8 21. Rc1 Rc8 22. Kg2 Rhf8 23. Nf2 h6 24. Be4 Bxe4 25. Qxe4 Qxb4 26. Rhd1 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Qa4 28. Kg3 Rd8 29. Nd3 Rd7 30. Nb4 Qxb4 31. Qc6 Rd8 32. Qc7+ Ka8 33. Qc6+ Kb8 34. Qc7+ Ka8 35. Qc6+
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. h4 Nd6 2. b4 b6 3. Ne3 f5 4. Qh2 Nf7 5. f3 g6 6. Bxh8 Rxh8 7. g4 fxg4 8. Nxg4 e5 9. Nd3 Nc6 10. c3 Qe7 11. a4 O-O-O 12. b5 Na5 13. Ndxe5 Rhf8 14. h5 gxh5 15. Qxh5 Rde8 16. d4 Nc4 17. Nxc4 Bxf3 18. Bf5 Bd5 19. Nce3 Bxh1 20. Qxh1 Kb8 21. O-O-O Qg5 22. Rd3 h5 23. Bxd7 hxg4 24. Bxe8 Rxe8 25. Qd5 Qf4 26. Qf5 Qh6 27. Qxf7 Rxe3 28. Rxe3 Qxe3+ 29. Kd1 g3 30. Qg8+ Kb7 31. Qd5+ Kc8 32. Qg8+ Kb7 33. Qd5+ Kb8 34. Qd8+ Kb7
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 64 / 35 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): bnnqrkrb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BBNNRKQR w EHeg - 0 1
Mirror twin: White 895 vs Black 915 — a different position (castling squares are fixed), not evaluated by the search.
Current place in the live balance rating: 282.