White 7 vs Black 595
White starts from setup 7 (QNBNRKRB), Black from setup 595 (BRQNKRNB). In the encyclopedia since 2026-10-10: 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. 7, Black by position No. 595, 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 #7 Q N B N R K R B
King on the f-file, rooks on e, g, queen on the a-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 7 gives White +0.24 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #595 B R Q N K R N B
King on the e-file, rooks on b, f, 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 595 gives White +0.13 (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 agreed early: from 100 thousand to 128 million nodes the evaluation never left ±12 cp.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 7 gives White +0.24 and setup 595 gives White +0.13: with both sides on the same rank the first move is worth something. In this pair Black's own setup absorbs that edge completely.
The engine's first choice for White is b3; the alternatives are slightly weaker but keep the game level.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the evaluation stayed within ±29 cp the whole way: the balance holds as the pieces come out, not only on move one.
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 | 13 | -4 | 1. b3 b5 2. e4 Nf6 3. d3 d5 4. exd5 Nxd5 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 18 | -5 | 1. b3 b5 2. d3 f5 3. Nd2 d6 4. O-O e5 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 23 | 0 | 1. b3 b5 2. d3 f5 3. Nd2 d6 4. e4 Nh6 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 29 | +12 | 1. g3 g6 2. O-O b5 3. Bxa8 Rxa8 4. d3 f5 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 35 | +9 | 1. g3 g6 2. O-O b5 3. Bxa8 Rxa8 4. e4 f5 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 39 | -7 | 1. b3 b5 2. e4 d6 3. d3 f5 4. g3 Nh6 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 52 | 0 | 1. b3 b5 2. e4 f5 3. exf5 Nh6 4. Bb2 Qa6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 56 | 0 | 1. b3 b5 2. e4 f5 3. exf5 Nh6 4. Bb2 Qa6 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 58 | 0 | 1. b3 b5 2. e4 f5 3. exf5 Nh6 4. Bb2 Qa6 |
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: +6
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 +32, Black +102, difference -70. 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 | 0 | 43 | 1. b3 b5 2. e4 f5 3. exf5 Nh6 4. Bb2 Qa6 5. Ne3 Nxf5 |
| 2 | -13 | 43 | 1. d3 g6 2. g3 b5 3. Bxa8 Rxa8 4. O-O c5 5. e4 d6 |
| 3 | -15 | 43 | 1. g3 g6 2. Nbc3 f5 3. O-O b6 4. Bxa8 Rxa8 5. d3 Qb7 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 29 cp, mean 13.0 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | g3 | +10 | g6 | +8 |
| 2 | a4 | -7 | a6 | -21 |
| 3 | d3 | -15 | b5 | -19 |
| 4 | e4 | -10 | f5 | -17 |
| 5 | Nd2 | -17 | b4 | -22 |
| 6 | c3 | -18 | e6 | -25 |
| 7 | O-O | -18 | Ne7 | -16 |
| 8 | Nc4 | -14 | O-O | -24 |
| 9 | Be3 | -18 | d6 | -14 |
| 10 | f4 | -9 | Qd7 | -12 |
| 11 | Ba7 | -12 | bxc3 | -8 |
| 12 | bxc3 | -7 | Rb4 | -12 |
| 13 | Qc1 | -12 | Rb7 | -16 |
| 14 | Bd4 | -6 | Bxd4+ | -4 |
| 15 | cxd4 | -6 | Rb3 | -15 |
| 16 | Nf2 | -11 | Rb8 | -15 |
| 17 | Ne3 | -6 | d5 | -8 |
| 18 | Bg2 | -11 | Rb4 | -13 |
| 19 | exf5 | -2 | gxf5 | -6 |
| 20 | a5 | -9 | Rxd4 | -24 |
| 21 | Nc2 | -18 | Ra4 | -29 |
| 22 | d4 | -23 | Bc6 | -20 |
| 23 | Nd3 | -23 | Nb7 | -16 |
| 24 | Ne5 | -21 | Qd6 | -18 |
| 25 | Re3 | -12 | Bb5 | -11 |
| 26 | Rfe1 | -6 | Nd8 | -9 |
| 27 | Bf1 | -7 | Bxf1 | -11 |
| 28 | Rxf1 | -12 | Rxa5 | -11 |
| 29 | Kh1 | -14 | Ng6 | 0 |
| 30 | Nd3 | 0 | Rb5 | 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 43.2 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. d3 b5 2. b3 f5 3. e4 Qa6 4. Nd2 fxe4 5. dxe4 Ne6 6. g3 g6 7. Bb2 Bxb2 8. Qxb2 Qd6 9. Qc1 Qc5 10. O-O Nf6 11. Bg2 a5 12. h3 O-O 13. Re3 b4 14. Nb2 Nd4 15. Ndc4 Qa7 16. c3 Nb5 17. Na4 e6 18. Ree1 c5 19. h4 Qc7 20. cxb4 axb4 21. e5 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Nd5 23. f4 Qc6 24. Kh3 Ra8 25. Ne3 Nxe3 26. Rxe3 Rxa4 27. bxa4 Nd4 28. Qd1 Nf5 29. Ref3 Ra8 30. a3 Rxa4 31. axb4 Rxb4 32. h5 Rd4 33. Qe2 Re4 34. Qb2 Kf7 35. Qf2 gxh5 36. Rc3 Rd4 37. Qe2 Kg6 38. g4 Ne7 39. gxh5+ Kf7 40. Qc2 Nf5 41. Rxc5 Qa6 42. Rf3 Qa1 43. Qc1 Qa8 44. Rcc3 Qd8 45. Qe1 d6 46. exd6 Qxd6 47. Qf2 Rd1 48. Qa7+ Ne7 49. Rc7 Rh1+ 50. Kg4 Qd8 51. Rh3
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. d3 g6 2. a4 Nf6 3. O-O O-O 4. g3 a6 5. b3 d5 6. Bb2 b5 7. Nd2 c5 8. e4 d4 9. f4 Ng4 10. h3 Nf6 11. Nf2 Bg7 12. Ba3 Nd7 13. Qd1 bxa4 14. h4 axb3 15. cxb3 f6 16. h5 g5 17. h6 Bxh6 18. Qh5 Bg7 19. Ng4 Ne6 20. Re2 Qe8 21. Qh3 gxf4 22. gxf4 h5 23. Rh2 Qg6 24. Qxh5 Qxh5 25. Rxh5 Kf7 26. f5 Nc7 27. Bf3 e6 28. Rc1 exf5 29. Bxc5 Rfc8 30. Rxf5 Ne6 31. Ba3 Rc3 32. Be2 Rb5 33. Rxb5 axb5 34. Ra1 Bc6 35. Bb4 Bf8 36. Bxc3 dxc3 37. Nf3 Ndc5 38. b4 Nb3 39. Ra7+ Kg6 40. Bd1 Bxb4 41. Nh4+ Kg5 42. Nf3+ Kg6 43. Nh4+ Kg5
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 7 / 595 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): brqnkrnb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QNBNRKRB w EGbf - 0 1
Mirror twin: White 946 vs Black 259 — a different position (castling squares are fixed), not evaluated by the search.
Current place in the live balance rating: 89.