ZeroChess

Zero opening preparation. Zero starting evaluation.

1. e3 g6 2. c4 Nc6 3. Qb3 d6 4. h3 Nf6

Online play is not available here yet. Generate a starting position for an in-person game, or copy its FEN/PGN to another chess app. For example: Lichess challenge.

How it works

Start from a random, balanced position.

A short sequence of legal moves is generated from the standard starting position. A modern chess engine checks that the result evaluates to zero. From there, it is standard chess.

Why ZeroChess?

The fixed chess starting position has two fundamental problems.

It is too well studied

Opening preparation and memorization are disproportionately important. Common positions are analyzed to great depths.

It is not balanced

White starts with an advantage. Most tournaments have an odd number of rounds, so players cannot play the same number of games with each color, creating an inherent fairness problem.

Why not Chess960?

It addresses opening preparation only partially: its fixed set of 960 starting positions can still be studied.Fun fact: play 37 games with randomly chosen starting positions, and there's over a 50% chance that at least two will start from the same position.
Its starting positions remain unbalanced and can increase White's initial advantage.
Its unfamiliar piece arrangements disrupt familiar chess patterns, which can discourage some players.
Castling is less intuitive in some positions.

Esports-inspired

Competitive mode: Draft Planned

Prefer to avoid certain starting positions? Draft mode gives both players a choice. Several balanced positions are revealed before the game. Players take turns banning positions until one remains.

Chess position after 1. d3 Nc6 2. Nd2 b6 3. Ngf3 Bb7 4. Nb3 a6 — 1. d3 Nc6 2. Nd2 b6 3. Ngf3 Bb7 4. Nb3 a6

Chess position after 1. d4 e6 2. Nd2 Nc6 3. Ngf3 Nf6 4. Nb1 b6 — 1. d4 e6 2. Nd2 Nc6 3. Ngf3 Nf6 4. Nb1 b6

Chess position after 1. Nf3 Nc6 2. e3 g6 3. Nc3 e6 4. Bd3 Bg7 — 1. Nf3 Nc6 2. e3 g6 3. Nc3 e6 4. Bd3 Bg7

FAQ

Why do some positions look better for Black?

Balanced positions may look Black-favored because we are used to White starting with an advantage.

Why does White's position sometimes look awkward?

White may need to make less natural moves to offset the first-move advantage.

Won't the evaluation change at different depths?

Yes, it's not perfect (but then, what is?). There will be some variance, but it is unbiased (the average evaluation should stay at zero). In our tests, the average absolute evaluation, ignoring whether White or Black is favored, stayed below 10 centipawns, which is much better than the standard starting position's 30–40 centipawns.

Contact

Get in touch.

Have a question, feedback, or an idea for ZeroChess? Interested in helping the project? Send the developers a message.