White 69 vs Black 740
White starts from setup 69 (NNBBRKQR), Black from setup 740 (RBBKNNQR). In the encyclopedia since 2026-10-09: 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. 69, Black by position No. 740, 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 #69 N N B B R K Q R
King on the f-file, rooks on e, h, queen on the g-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 69 gives White +0.27 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #740 R B B K N N Q R
King on the d-file, rooks on a, h, queen on the g-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 740 gives White +0.26 (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 same corridor is required at every deeper budget (8 G, 16 G) at which the pair has been evaluated.
The shallow rungs wandered between -47 and +7 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 69 gives White +0.27 and setup 740 gives White +0.26: 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 d3, and 3 first moves are within 10 cp of it.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the largest swing was 40 cp (around move 9), ending at 0 cp — the position stays playable for both sides.
Engine self-play agrees: 10 games, White won 3, drawn 6, Black won 1 (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 | 15 | -47 | 1. d3 f5 2. Nc3 c6 3. g3 a5 4. Qg2 h5 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 18 | -3 | 1. c4 f5 2. d3 h5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 h4 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 23 | -28 | 1. c4 f5 2. d3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d6 4. f3 Qf7 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 25 | +7 | 1. c4 f5 2. Bb3 d6 3. Nc3 a5 4. f3 Bd7 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 34 | -12 | 1. c4 f5 2. Bb3 d6 3. Nc3 a5 4. f3 Bd7 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 38 | 0 | 1. Nc3 f5 2. d3 a5 3. a4 Nf6 4. f4 d6 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 52 | 0 | 1. Nb3 a5 2. a4 f5 3. d3 Nf6 4. f4 d6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 56 | 0 | 1. Nb3 a5 2. a4 f5 3. d3 Nf6 4. f4 d6 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 58 | 0 | 1. Nb3 a5 2. a4 f5 3. d3 Nf6 4. f4 d6 |
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: +4
- Lc0 0.32.1: +2
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 +40, Black +11, difference +29. A balanced pair needs White's setup to be weaker by about the price of the first move.
Extended self-play: 10 games, 3 White wins, 6 draws, 1 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 | 0 | 42 | 1. d3 f5 2. Nb3 a5 3. a4 Nf6 4. f4 d6 5. Nc3 Ng6 |
| 2 | 0 | 42 | 1. Nb3 f5 2. d3 a5 3. a4 Nf6 4. f4 d6 5. Nc3 Ng6 |
| 3 | 0 | 41 | 1. c4 f5 2. Bb3 a5 3. c5 Ne6 4. Nc3 Qf7 5. f3 Nf6 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 40 cp, mean 8.6 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nc3 | +10 | f5 | -17 |
| 2 | f4 | -22 | a5 | -19 |
| 3 | Nb3 | -13 | Ba7 | -19 |
| 4 | e3 | -13 | g5 | -15 |
| 5 | Nxa5 | -20 | gxf4 | -14 |
| 6 | d4 | +14 | Ne6 | +18 |
| 7 | Nb3 | +16 | Nd6 | +3 |
| 8 | exf4 | +11 | Qg7 | +23 |
| 9 | Rxe6 | +40 | dxe6 | +15 |
| 10 | Qe3 | +23 | O-O | +24 |
| 11 | O-O | +15 | Nc4 | +16 |
| 12 | Qd3 | +20 | Na5 | +6 |
| 13 | Nb5 | +22 | Nxb3 | +19 |
| 14 | Qxb3 | +20 | Bb6 | +10 |
| 15 | c3 | +27 | Kh8 | +6 |
| 16 | Na3 | +3 | e5 | 0 |
| 17 | fxe5 | +4 | f4 | 0 |
| 18 | Bf3 | +1 | Bg4 | 0 |
| 19 | Bxg4 | 0 | Qxg4 | 0 |
| 20 | Qd1 | 0 | Qg6 | 0 |
| 21 | Nc4 | 0 | c5 | 0 |
| 22 | d5 | 0 | Bc7 | 0 |
| 23 | d6 | 0 | exd6 | 0 |
| 24 | exd6 | 0 | f3 | 0 |
| 25 | Rxf3 | 0 | Rxf3 | 0 |
| 26 | Qxf3 | 0 | Bxd6 | 0 |
| 27 | Nxd6 | 0 | Qxd6 | 0 |
| 28 | Bf4 | 0 | Qc6 | 0 |
| 29 | Qh5 | 0 | Kg8 | 0 |
| 30 | Qg5+ | 0 | Kf7 | 0 |
Engine self-play
10 games at 500 000 nodes per move: White won 3, drawn 6, Black won 1 — White scored 60.0%. Average length 53.6 moves.
Sample game 1 (1-0)
1. Nc3 f5 2. f4 a5 3. d3 g5 4. fxg5 e5 5. e4 Ba7 6. Be3 Bxe3 7. Qxe3 f4 8. Qf2 Qxg5 9. Nb3 b6 10. Nd2 Bb7 11. Nf3 Qg7 12. d4 d6 13. Be2 O-O-O 14. O-O-O Ne6 15. Qh4 Nf6 16. dxe5 dxe5 17. Qh3 Rde8 18. Bb5 c6 19. Rd6 cxb5 20. Rxe6 Ng4 21. Rxb6 Kc7 22. Rxb5 Nf2 23. Qh5 Nxh1 24. Nxe5 Re7 25. Nc4 Qd4 26. Rd5 Qf2 27. Qg5 Rhe8 28. Rd1 Kb8 29. b3 Rc7 30. Qxa5 Rcc8 31. Rxh1 Qc5 32. Nb5 Rxe4 33. a4 Re2 34. Re1 Rxe1+ 35. Qxe1 Bxg2 36. Qd2 Bd5 37. Qxf4+ Ka8 38. Nbd6 Rg8 39. Qe5 Qg1+ 40. Kb2 Qg7 41. Qxg7 Rxg7 42. Nb6+ Kb8 43. Nxd5 Rd7 44. Nf6 Rxd6 45. Nxh7 Kc7 46. Ng5 Ra6 47. Ne4 Ra5 48. Nf2 Kb6 49. Nd3 Rh5 50. b4 Rxh2 51. Kb3 Rh3 52. a5+ Ka6 53. Ka4 Rh4 54. Nb2 Rh2 55. b5+ Kb7 56. Kb3 Rh5 57. c4 Rh1 58. Nd3 Kc7 59. c5 Rg1 60. Kc4 Rg4+ 61. Kd5 Rh4 62. b6+ Kc8 63. c6 Kd8 64. Ne5 Ra4 65. Nc4 Ra2 66. Kc5 Ra1 67. Kb5 Ke7
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. Nc3 f5 2. f4 g5 3. fxg5 a5 4. Qf2 h6 5. gxh6 Ra6 6. d4 d5 7. Nb3 Rf6 8. Bf4 Nd6 9. Be5 Rhxh6 10. Bxf6 Rxf6 11. e3 Ne4 12. Qg1 b5 13. Nxe4 fxe4+ 14. Ke2 Rg6 15. g3 Nd7 16. c3 a4 17. Na1 c5 18. Kd2 b4 19. Bxa4 Ba6 20. Nb3 bxc3+ 21. bxc3 cxd4 22. Nxd4 Bd3 23. Bxd7 Kxd7 24. Rb1 Bd6 25. Rb7+ Kc8 26. Rb2 Ba3 27. Rb3 Bc5 28. Qg2 Ra6 29. a4 Kc7 30. Rhb1 Bxb1 31. Rxb1 Rxa4 32. Ke1 Qa8 33. Qe2 Ra1 34. Qb5 Bxd4 35. cxd4 Qa3 36. Qb7+ Kd6 37. Qb8+ Kd7 38. Qb5+ Kc7 39. Qb6+ Kd7 40. Rxa1 Qc3+ 41. Kd1 Qd3+ 42. Kc1 Qxe3+ 43. Kb1 Qd3+ 44. Kb2 Qd2+ 45. Kb3
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 69 / 740 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): rbbknnqr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NNBBRKQR w EHah - 0 1
Mirror twin: White 890 vs Black 414 — a different position (castling squares are fixed), not evaluated by the search.
Current place in the live balance rating: 304.