White 87 vs Black 692
White starts from setup 87 (NNBRKRQB), Black from setup 692 (RBBQKNNR). 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 #87 N N B R K R Q B
King on the e-file, rooks on d, f, queen on the g-file; one 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 87 gives White +0.25 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #692 R B B Q K N N R
King on the e-file, rooks on a, h, queen on the d-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 692 gives White +0.15 (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 59.
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 -17 and +14 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 87 gives White +0.25 and setup 692 gives White +0.15: 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 c4; the alternatives are slightly weaker but keep the game level.
Along the engine's main line (23 moves) the evaluation stayed within ±20 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 | 16 | -17 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. d4 Bd6 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 20 | +2 | 1. c4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 26 | -1 | 1. c4 c6 2. f4 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc2 Bc7 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 28 | +6 | 1. c4 c6 2. d3 d5 3. f4 e5 4. g3 Ne7 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 34 | +14 | 1. c4 c6 2. f4 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc2 Nf6 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 40 | +3 | 1. c4 c6 2. f4 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc2 Nf6 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 50 | 0 | 1. c4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 e6 4. Nc2 Ne7 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 53 | 0 | 1. c4 c6 2. f4 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc2 Nf6 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 59 | 0 | 1. c4 c6 2. f4 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc2 Nf6 |
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: -4
- Lc0 0.32.1: -6
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 +60, Black +53, difference +7. 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 | +23 | 41 | 1. c4 c6 2. f4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nc2 h5 |
| 2 | 0 | 41 | 1. f4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. d3 cxd3 4. Rxd3 Nd7 5. g4 c6 |
| 3 | -10 | 41 | 1. d4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. Nc3 e6 4. Nc2 Ne7 5. e4 a5 |
Main-line play-out
23 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 20 cp, mean 5.0 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | c4 | +6 | c6 | -2 |
| 2 | f4 | +13 | d5 | +5 |
| 3 | cxd5 | +10 | cxd5 | +1 |
| 4 | Nc2 | 0 | Nf6 | 0 |
| 5 | Nc3 | +3 | h5 | +8 |
| 6 | d3 | 0 | Bc7 | +12 |
| 7 | Be3 | +14 | Bd7 | +14 |
| 8 | O-O-O | +5 | Ba5 | +3 |
| 9 | Kb1 | +18 | Rc8 | +20 |
| 10 | Rc1 | 0 | Bxc3 | 0 |
| 11 | bxc3 | -5 | Rxc3 | +13 |
| 12 | f5 | +7 | g6 | +8 |
| 13 | fxg6 | +8 | Nxg6 | +6 |
| 14 | Bd2 | +12 | Rc6 | +12 |
| 15 | Qxa7 | +4 | Qb6+ | +7 |
| 16 | Qxb6 | +4 | Rxb6+ | +7 |
| 17 | Ka1 | +9 | h4 | 0 |
| 18 | g3 | 0 | hxg3 | 0 |
| 19 | hxg3 | 0 | Rh2 | 0 |
| 20 | Bf3 | 0 | e5 | 0 |
| 21 | Bg5 | 0 | Nh7 | 0 |
| 22 | Bd2 | 0 | Nf6 | 0 |
| 23 | Bg5 | 0 | Nh7 | 0 |
| 24 | Bd2 | 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 43.9 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. c4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. g3 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bc7 6. Nb3 Bf5 7. g4 Bc2 8. f4 Rc8 9. Bd2 Bxd1 10. Kxd1 e6 11. g5 Ng8 12. f5 exf5 13. Bxd5 Ne7 14. Bxb7 Rb8 15. Ba6 Ne6 16. Bb5+ Rxb5 17. Nxb5 O-O 18. Nxc7 Qxc7 19. Qg3 Qd7 20. Kc1 Qc6+ 21. Kb1 Qe4+ 22. Qd3 Qxd3+ 23. exd3 Rd8 24. Bb4 Nc6 25. Bd2 g6 26. Rc1 Ncxd4 27. Nxd4 Nxd4 28. h4 Ne6 29. Ba5 Rxd3 30. Rc8+ Kg7 31. Bc3+ f6 32. Ra8 Rd7 33. gxf6+ Kf7 34. Rh8 Nf8 35. Bb4 Rd8 36. Be7 Rc8 37. Bd6 Rd8 38. Be7 Rc8 39. Bd6 Rd8
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. f4 d5 2. d3 Nf6 3. e4 a5 4. Be3 Ng4 5. exd5 Nxe3 6. Qxe3 Qxd5 7. O-O-O Qe6 8. Qf3 a4 9. c4 Qh6 10. g3 Qxh2 11. Qe3 Ne6 12. Nc2 Ba7 13. d4 c5 14. Be4 Qh6 15. d5 Nd4 16. Nc3 Qf6 17. Nxa4 h5 18. Nc3 Bg4 19. Rd2 Bb6 20. Kb1 Kf8 21. a3 g6 22. Ka2 Rc8 23. Rdf2 Nxc2 24. Bxc2 Qd4 25. Qe5 Bc7 26. Qxd4 cxd4 27. Nb5 Bb8 28. b3 h4 29. gxh4 Rxh4 30. Nxd4 Ba7 31. Rd2 Bd7 32. a4 Kg7 33. Kb2 Bb8 34. Re2 Bd6 35. Kc3 Rh3+ 36. Bd3 b6 37. Ref2 Rh4 38. Re1 Re8 39. Ref1 Reh8 40. Rf3 Bg4 41. Re3 Bh3 42. Rf2 Bd7 43. Re1 Rh3 44. Rf3 R8h4 45. Rxh3 Rxh3 46. Rf1 e5 47. dxe6 fxe6 48. Ne2 Bc6 49. b4 Bxb4+ 50. Kxb4 Rxd3 51. Nc1 Rd8 52. Nb3 Kf6 53. Re1 Rd3 54. a5 bxa5+ 55. Nxa5 Ba8 56. Nb3 Rf3 57. Nc5 Rxf4 58. Rxe6+ Kf7 59. Re5 Rg4 60. Kc3 Rg1 61. Ne4 Bxe4 62. Rxe4 g5 63. c5 Rc1+ 64. Kd4 Kf6 65. Kd5 Kf5
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 87 / 692 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): rbbqknnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NNBRKRQB w DFah - 0 1
Mirror twin (the same position mirrored): White 866 vs Black 462.