Strategy
Chess960
Fischer’s chess: 960 starting positions, zero theory.
The pieces on the back rank are shuffled at random (bishops on opposite colours, king between the rooks), with adapted castling. The same formidable engine, but no more opening theory to recite.
- Players
- 1 or 2 players
- Length
- 20 to 60 min
- Against the AI
- Two players on one device
15 days of full access, no account · No download
How to play
Object of the game
As in chess: checkmate the opponent’s king. Only the starting position changes.
Starting position
- The pieces on the back rank are placed at random, identically for both sides, among 960 possible arrangements.
- The two bishops are always on squares of different colours, and the king is always placed between its two rooks.
- The position number (0 to 959) is displayed; arrangement 518 corresponds to the classical position.
Castling in 960
- After castling, the king and rook occupy exactly the same squares as in classical chess: king on g1 and rook on f1 (kingside), king on c1 and rook on d1 (queenside).
- The usual conditions apply: king and rook have not moved, all squares crossed or occupied at the destination are empty (apart from the king and rook themselves), and the king is neither in check nor crossing an attacked square.
- To castle in the interface, drop the king on the rook concerned (or on its destination square when there is no ambiguity).
The rest
Movement, en passant, promotion and the rules for draws are identical to classical chess. See the rules of the “Chess” game for details.
Tip: without opening theory, apply the principles: control the centre, develop your pieces quickly, put your king to safety.
About the AI
The same home-grown engine as for chess (PVS, transposition table, quiescence, tapered evaluation), without an opening book since every position is new. 960 castling is generated and validated according to the official rules.
AI levels
- BeginnerSees two moves ahead, plays in the blink of an eye and often leaves pieces hanging.
- AmateurKnows simple tactics, but still misses combinations.
- IntermediateCalculates five moves and punishes most mistakes.
- ExpertDeep search, rare inaccuracies: a club-level opponent.
- MasterThe engine at full strength, 3 to 4 seconds per move: aiming for 2000 Elo and above.
