White 82 vs Black 815
White starts from setup 82 (BNNRKBRQ), Black from setup 815 (RKQNRNBB). 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. 82, Black by position No. 815, 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 #82 B N N R K B R Q
King on the e-file, rooks on d, g, queen on the h-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 82 gives White +0.28 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #815 R K Q N R N B B
King on the b-file, rooks on a, e, 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 815 gives White +0.36 (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 52.
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 -1 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 82 gives White +0.28 and setup 815 gives White +0.36: 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 d4; the alternatives are slightly weaker but keep the game level.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the largest swing was 32 cp (around move 1), ending at 0 cp — the position stays playable for both sides.
Engine self-play agrees: 10 games, White won 0, drawn 9, Black won 1 (White scored 45.0%).
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 | -1 | 1. b3 e5 2. g4 g6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bxd4 Bxd4 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 19 | +2 | 1. b3 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Bxd4 a5 4. g4 h6 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 22 | +20 | 1. b3 f5 2. g4 d6 3. Nd3 fxg4 4. h3 e5 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 30 | +15 | 1. b3 a5 2. g4 a4 3. bxa4 Rxa4 4. e3 e5 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 34 | +13 | 1. b3 a5 2. g4 e5 3. d4 exd4 4. Bxd4 d6 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 39 | +8 | 1. b3 a5 2. g4 e5 3. d4 exd4 4. Bxd4 d6 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 43 | 0 | 1. b3 f5 2. g4 fxg4 3. Rxg4 e5 4. d4 Be6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 51 | 0 | 1. b3 f5 2. d4 g6 3. e3 c5 4. g3 cxd4 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 52 | 0 | 1. b3 f5 2. d4 g6 3. e3 c5 4. g3 cxd4 |
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 | -5 |
| 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: +9
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 +49, Black +77, difference -28. 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, 9 draws, 1 Black wins, White scored 45.0%.
Best first moves
The 3 best first moves for White, searched together at 400 000 000 nodes.
| # | Eval, cp | Depth | Main line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +18 | 38 | 1. d4 g6 2. g4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 d6 5. e3 f5 |
| 2 | 0 | 38 | 1. b3 f5 2. d4 g6 3. e3 c5 4. g3 cxd4 5. exd4 Qxc2 |
| 3 | -11 | 38 | 1. g4 e5 2. e3 Nc6 3. a3 g6 4. b3 f6 5. Bg2 a5 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 32 cp, mean 8.8 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | b3 | +32 | e5 | +25 |
| 2 | d4 | +27 | exd4 | +23 |
| 3 | Bxd4 | +20 | Nc6 | +17 |
| 4 | Bc3 | +21 | h6 | +28 |
| 5 | g3 | +29 | Bh7 | +31 |
| 6 | Nd3 | +14 | Be4 | +17 |
| 7 | Bg2 | +19 | Bxg2 | +21 |
| 8 | Qxg2 | +17 | d6 | +6 |
| 9 | a4 | +17 | Ne6 | +8 |
| 10 | e3 | +6 | Qd7 | +13 |
| 11 | O-O | +15 | a5 | +18 |
| 12 | f4 | +13 | f5 | +14 |
| 13 | Ne5 | +8 | Nxe5 | +10 |
| 14 | fxe5 | +5 | Ra6 | 0 |
| 15 | Rxf5 | +7 | g6 | +8 |
| 16 | Rff1 | 0 | Rc6 | 0 |
| 17 | Bd4 | 0 | h5 | +3 |
| 18 | Na3 | 0 | Nxd4 | +6 |
| 19 | exd4 | +3 | dxe5 | 0 |
| 20 | d5 | +2 | Rf6 | 0 |
| 21 | Qe4 | +2 | h4 | 0 |
| 22 | Nc4 | +4 | hxg3 | +6 |
| 23 | hxg3 | 0 | Qh3 | 0 |
| 24 | Qh4 | 0 | Qxh4 | +1 |
| 25 | gxh4 | +6 | e4 | 0 |
| 26 | Kg2 | +2 | Kc8 | 0 |
| 27 | d6 | +3 | Kd7 | +3 |
| 28 | Rf2 | 0 | b6 | 0 |
| 29 | dxc7+ | 0 | Kxc7 | 0 |
| 30 | Rfd2 | 0 | e3 | 0 |
Engine self-play
10 games at 500 000 nodes per move: White won 0, drawn 9, Black won 1 — White scored 45.0%. Average length 45.8 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. b3 Nc6 2. d4 g5 3. g4 Ng6 4. e3 a5 5. Bb2 a4 6. Nd3 d5 7. O-O-O e5 8. dxe5 f6 9. Bg2 axb3 10. axb3 fxe5 11. Bxd5 Bxd5 12. Qxd5 e4 13. Nc5 Bxb2+ 14. Kxb2 Ra2+ 15. Kxa2 Nb4+ 16. Kb2 Nxd5 17. Rxd5 b6 18. Nd7+ Kb7 19. Rgd1 Re7 20. Nc3 Qg8 21. Rf5 Qg7 22. Nf6 Nh4 23. Nh5 Qg8 24. Rf6 Qe8 25. Ng3 Re5 26. Rd4 Nf3 27. Rxe4 Rxe4 28. Ngxe4 Nxh2 29. Rh6 Nxg4 30. Rxh7 Qg6 31. Rd7 Ne5 32. Re7 Nc6 33. Rd7 Kc8 34. Rd5 g4 35. Rg5 Qe6 36. Kc1 Kb7 37. Rg7 Ne7 38. Kb2 Nd5 39. Rg5 Ne7 40. Ng3 Nc6
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. g4 g6 2. e3 a5 3. d4 a4 4. h4 d6 5. Nc3 Nd7 6. h5 g5 7. h6 Nb6 8. b4 axb3 9. cxb3 Rf8 10. Bd3 Nc6 11. N1e2 e6 12. Bb2 Bf6 13. O-O-O Be7 14. Bb1 d5 15. f4 Ra5 16. a4 Qd7 17. Rgf1 Rc8 18. fxg5 Bxg5 19. Qh3 Re8 20. Bc2 Nb4 21. Ba3 Nxc2 22. Kxc2 e5 23. Kb2 f6 24. Nc1 Be6 25. Rg1 Nc8 26. Nd3 exd4 27. exd4 b6 28. Qf3 Nd6 29. Bb4 Ra8 30. Bxd6 Qxd6 31. Nb5 Qe7 32. Nf4 Qd7 33. Rc1 Rc8 34. Rce1 Bf7 35. Nh3 Bd2 36. Re2 Bb4 37. g5 c6 38. Nc3 Rg8 39. Nf2 fxg5 40. Nd3 Bd6 41. Qf6 Rg6 42. Ne5 Bxe5 43. Qxe5+ Qd6 44. Qxd6+ Rxd6 45. Re7 Ra7 46. Rxa7 Kxa7 47. Rxg5 Rxh6 48. Rg7 Rf6 49. Rxh7 Kb8 50. Rh8+ Kc7 51. Rh7
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 82 / 815 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): rkqnrnbb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BNNRKBRQ w DGae - 0 1
Mirror twin: White 871 vs Black 144 — a different position (castling squares are fixed), not evaluated by the search.
Current place in the live balance rating: 358.