Setup: RNABMKBQNR (Finesse Chess)
Rank: 1 (at 25 plies)
Setup number: 403

Finesse Chess is the most balanced of Capa18 setups. I originally proposed this setup as a joke back in 2008, but the name sticks and, if I were to promote a single setup for Capablanca Chess today, it would be this setup.

Extensive computer testing shows that the setup looks to be, with perfect play, a win for White. However, the same testing shows that finding the perfect moves is harder than it is in Classic Chess. To wit, I had Stockfish 17 play 1,000 games of Classic Chess at 18-ply depth and choosing randomly any one of the three best moves, as long as the chosen move was within 30 centipawns of the best possible move. The results for Classic Chess were 300 White wins, 509 draws, and 191 Black wins. Ignoring draws, White won 61.1% of games.

When I had the computer play 1,000 games of Finesse Chess (using Fairy Stockfish and the same parameters used for the Classic Chess tourney), the results were 443 White wins, 198 draws, and 353 Black wins. Ignoring draws, except to note they are much less common than in Classic Chess, White won 56% of games—a noticably smaller edge than White has in Classic Chess.

Point being, it looks like Finesse Chess both greatly reduces draws, as well as significantly reducing White’s advantage.

This setup was flipped left-to-right back in 2008. The original proposal didn’t specify castling rules; this proposal has the king always move three squares when castling.

The opening

Personally, I think these days it’s best to randomize the opening setup, using computer analysis to choose a setup which doesn’t favor White too much. That said, let’s look at the opening.

Classic Chess has only four really good first moves for White: 1. c4, 1. d4, 1. e4, and 1. Nf3 (1. g3 is good, but trails behind the best four moves). On the other hand, there looks to be quite a few really good opening moves in Finesse Chess: 1. h4, 1. h3, 1. d4, 1. e4, and probably 1. Nc3. 1. g4 and 1. g3 also look very promising; 1. d3 as well as 1. c3 might have promise. The worst opening move in Classic Chess is 1. g4; the worst opening move in Finesse Chess is 1. Ab3.

Evaluations

25-ply Eval: 20 (i.e. White has a 20 centipawn advantage)
25-ply Best opening move: d4 (Eval: 20)
25-ply Good opening moves: e4 (Eval: 19) h4 (Eval: 19) h3 (Eval: 18) Nc3 (Eval: 17)
25-ply Pie rule (balanced) opening moves: f4 e3 j4 (Eval: ±0)
30-ply Eval: 23 (i.e. White has a 23 centipawn advantage)
30-ply Best opening move: g4 (Eval: 23)
30-ply Good opening moves: h3 (Eval: 21) Nc3 (Eval: 21) e4 (Eval: 20) h4 (Eval: 18)
30-ply Pie rule (balanced) opening move: e3 (Eval: ±0)
35-ply Best moves: h3 +27, e4 +25, d4 +23, Nc3 +18, g3 +18, g4 +18
35-ply Pie rule move: e3 0
35-ply Worst move: Ab3 -73
40-ply Best move: h4 +22

Results by opening

During the 1000-game computer tourney for Finesse Chess, here are the results by opening. The format is: White wins/Draws/Black wins (in percentages)

All: 1000 games - 44.9/19.8/35.3 - 55.985% White decisive wins

• 1. Nc3: 367 games - 48.2289/17.4387/34.3324 - 58.4158% White decisive wins
  • 1... Nc6: 120 games - 47.5/13.3333/39.1667 - 54.8077% White decisive wins
  • 1... e5: 134 games - 49.2537/21.6418/29.1045 - 62.8571% White decisive wins
  • 1... g5: 113 games - 47.7876/16.8142/35.3982 - 57.4468% White decisive wins
• 1. e4: 315 games - 43.4921/20.9524/35.5556 - 55.0201% White decisive wins
  • 1... Nc6: 116 games - 44.8276/18.1034/37.069 - 54.7368% White decisive wins
  • 1... e5: 90 games - 36.6667/22.2222/41.1111 - 47.1429% White decisive wins
  • 1... h6: 109 games - 47.7064/22.9358/29.3578 - 61.9048% White decisive wins
• 1. g3: 318 games - 42.4528/21.3836/36.1635 - 54% White decisive wins
  • 1... Nc6: 92 games - 39.1304/22.8261/38.0435 - 50.7042% White decisive wins
  • 1... e5: 117 games - 46.1538/23.9316/29.9145 - 60.6742% White decisive wins
  • 1... g6: 109 games - 41.2844/17.4312/41.2844 - 50% White decisive wins

As a point of comparison here are the results running the same tourney for Classic Chess.

Further analysis

It is possible to analyze this setup on Pychess as I type these words.

Setup: RNMBQKBANR (Nalls)
25-ply Eval: 27 (i.e. White has a 27 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 2
Setup number: 331
Best opening move: e4 (Eval: 27)
Good opening move: g4 (Eval: 24)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: Nh3 (Eval: ±3)

Nalls came up with this optimized setup for Capablanca Chess, and, indeed, it’s one of the most balanced Capa18 setups.

Setup: RNBQMKABNR (Trice’s setup)
25-ply Eval: 33 (i.e. White has a 33 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 3
Setup number: 314
Best opening move: Nh3 (Eval: 33)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: i3 (Eval: ±0)

This used to be called “Gothic Chess”, but Trice came to prefer the name “Trice’s Chess”. After seeing Capa’s second setup prefer White too much, Trice came up with this setup and patented it. The patent has long since expired, and, like almost all Chess Variants, the game never drew much interest.

It’s one of the most balanced Capablanca 18 setups, but Finesse as well as Grotesque (which isn’t a Capablanca 18 setup per se, but existed back in 2008) have an edge over it.

Setup: RNQBMKBANR (Blackbook)
25-ply Eval: 33 (i.e. White has a 33 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 3
Setup number: 319
Best opening move: e4 (Eval: 33)
Good opening moves: Ag3 (Eval: 31) h4 (Eval: 28)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: c3 (Eval: ±1)

Blackbook is one of my joke proposals from 2008. It’s remarkably balanced, but not as balanced as Finesse Chess which I proposed at the same time.

The original proposal didn’t have castling rules; this proposal has the king always move three squares when castling.

Setup: RNMBAKBQNR (Poisoned B Pawn)
25-ply Eval: 35 (i.e. White has a 35 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 5
Setup number: 343
Best opening move: h4 (Eval: 35)
Good opening move: g4 (Eval: 34)
Pie rule (balanced) opening moves: c4 Nh3 h3 (Eval: ±0)

This setup was neglected back in the first 2000s decade because the B pawn is undefended, in an era when we felt all of the pawns had to be defended.

However, the pawn is a poisoned pawn. Moving 1. Mb3 to threaten the pawn is White’s worst opening move. This is because, while White can get the pawn, he loses multiple tempi doing so, especially since Black can hem in the Marshal, e.g. 1. Mb3? g6 2. Mxb7? c5 3. g3 Bb6 and now the Marshal is trapped.

Point being, White had an edge in this setup, but it’s not that big of an edge, and trying to attack the unprotected B pawn in the opening gives Black a considerable lead.

I call this the “Poisoned B Pawn” setup, so it finally has a name.

Setup: RNQBAKBMNR (Poisoned I Pawn)
25-ply Eval: 47 (i.e. White has a 47 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 10
Setup number: 379
Best opening move: e4 (Eval: 47)
Good opening moves: f4 (Eval: 46) Nc3 (Eval: 42)
Pie rule (balanced) opening moves: g3 f3 d4 (Eval: ±0)

This is the same setup as the Poisoned B Pawn setup with the Queen and Marshal (“C”) swapped. Like the other setup, there is an unprotected pawn, which is why this setup was never named, but here the unprotected pawn is the “I” pawn instead of the B pawn.

Like the Porsoned B Pawn setup, the “I” pawn is poisoned, and 1. Mi3 to try and get the pawn is White’s worst opening move. E.g. 1. Mi3? e5 2. Mxi7? h5 3. d4 Bi6 and the Marshal, just as it was with that setup, is now hemmed in.

I call this the “Poisoned I Pawn” setup, so it finally has a name.

Setup: RANBMKBNQR (Narcotic)
25-ply Eval: 38 (i.e. White has a 38 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 6
Setup number: 175
Best opening move: d4 (Eval: 38)
Good opening move: f4 (Eval: 33)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: Ni3 (Eval: ±0)

One of my joke proposals from 2008, and an unbalanced one at that.

This setup was flipped left-to-right back in 2008. The original proposal didn’t have castling rules; this proposal has the king always move three squares when castling.

Setup: RANBQKBNMR (Carrera)
25-ply Eval: 38 (i.e. White has a 38 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 6
Setup number: 211
Best opening moves: Mh3 d4 (Eval: 38)
Good opening moves: e4 (Eval: 37) f3 (Eval: 36) f4 (Eval: 35) Ni3 (Eval: 35)
Pie rule (balanced) opening moves: c3 g4 (Eval: ±0)

The original setup. The reason for this placement is so that one’s Knights, Bishops, and Queen develop the same way they do in Classic Chess. It results in a placement that favors White, though, although that advantage can be reduced by swapping the Marshal and Archbishop.

While the original game had different castling and en passant rules, the version here has castling where the king moves three squares, and standard en passant rules.

Setup: RMNBQKBNAR (Murray-Carrera)
25-ply Eval: 51 (i.e. White has a 51 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 14
Setup number: 511
Best opening move: e4 (Eval: 51)
Good opening move: Ni3 (Eval: 46)
Pie rule (balanced) opening moves: e3 Aj3 (Eval: ±2)

Murray’s famous 1913 book on the history of Chess ended up misreading Carrera’s original 1617 proposal for a 8x10 variant, placing the Marshal on the left and the Archbishop on the right, instead of Carrera’s idea to place the Archbishop on the left and the Marshal on the right.

As it turns out, Murray’s misreading results in a game more balanced than Carrera’s original proposal.

Setup: RNBMQKABNR (Bird)
25-ply Eval: 46 (i.e. White has a 46 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 8
Setup number: 326
Best opening move: Nc3 (Eval: 46)
Good opening move: d4 (Eval: 43)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: c3 (Eval: ±0)

In the 19th century, Chessmaster Bird proposed a different setup than Carrera’s original setup. It’s not the most balanced setup, but it’s the first setup to have the knights on the b and i files, and the bishops on the c and h files.

Bird ultimately felt that adding both a Rook + Bishop piece and a Knight + Bishop piece were too powerful. Indeed, even with a setup optimized to minimize White’s advantage (Finesse Chess), all Capablanca 18 setups look to be, with perfect play, a win for White—but, extensive computer testing shows that, with decisive games, White wins less than he does with Classic Chess. Bird then proposed other boards and other fairy pieces, but for the purposes of Capablanca 18, we will look only at his original proposal.

Setup: RNBAQKMBNR (Capablanca’s first setup)
25-ply Eval: 53 (i.e. White has a 53 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 15
Setup number: 386
Best opening move: Nc3 (Eval: 53)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: Nj3 (Eval: ±0)

Capa’s first setup, the next setup proposed after Bird’s setup, either is farily balanced or greatly favors White, depending on how deep we search.

While the i-file pawn is undefended, this pawn is a poisoned pawn and it greatly favors Black if White tries to take this pawn right away with 1. Mi3?

Capa himself abandoned the setup, but it looks to be more balanced than his second attempt.

Setup: RNABQKBMNR (Capa’s second setup)
25-ply Eval: 46 (i.e. White has a 46 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 8
Setup number: 391
Best opening move: f4 (Eval: 46)
Pie rule (balanced) opening moves: h3 g4 f3 (Eval: ±0)

Trice correctly noted that Capa’s second proposal favors white. It’s still a good game, but we’re starting to reach the setups where we either play a double round robin or implement the “pie rule”, where player one chooses White’s first move and player two chooses whether to play White or Black.

Setup: RQNBAKBNMR (Schoolbook)
25-ply Eval: 47 (i.e. White has a 47 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 10
Setup number: 427
Best opening move: Mh3 (Eval: 47)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: g4 (Eval: ±4)

My own proposal from 2006. I did a lot of research on this setup and went to a lot of effort to make this setup as balanced as possible. Ultimately, it was not as balanced as I thought it was, and by 2010 I began looking for a more balanced setup.

Note that the version shown here was evaluated using a version of castling where the king always moves three squares when castling.

Setup: RNBAMKQBNR (Embassy Chess)
25-ply Eval: 48 (i.e. White has a 48 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 12
Setup number: 398
Best opening move: d3 (Eval: 48)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: Nh3 (Eval: ±0)

Once the admins of Brainking.com stopped hosting Trice’s setup on their server, they replaced it with Embassy Chess. To avoid any patent concerns, they used the 1984 Grand Chess opening setup, adapted to a 10x8 board. Stockfish analysis shows it favors White, but White only has a 3.5% edge across the thousands of games played with this setup:

white   7801 (50.58%)
black   7268 (47.12%)
draw     354 (2.29%)

Note that the setup shown here is flipped left-to-right compared to the canonical Embassy Chess opening setup.

Setup: RMNBAKBNQR (Notebook)
25-ply Eval: 49 (i.e. White has a 49 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 13
Setup number: 295
Best opening move: e4 (Eval: 49)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: Ni3 (Eval: ±8)

Notebook Chess is one of the 2008 joke proposals I made.

This setup was flipped left-to-right back in 2008. The original proposal didn’t have castling rules; this proposal has the king always move three squares when castling.

Setup: RNBQAKMBNR (Teutonic)
25-ply Eval: 57 (i.e. White has a 57 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 16
Setup number: 374
Best opening move: Nh3 (Eval: 57)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: g3 (Eval: ±8)

This proposal, which Mats Winther made and quickly withdrew once it was pointed out White has a first move mating threat, is rather unbalanced: Unprotected pawns, first move mating threat, and modern Stockfish analysis also shows White has a considerable advantage.

Setup: RNBMAKQBNR (Consulate)
25-ply Eval: 66 (i.e. White has a 66 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 17
Setup number: 338
Best opening move: g4 (Eval: 66)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: Na3 (Eval: ±5)

Another joke proposal I made in 2008: Take Embassy Chess and swap the Marshal and Archbishop. Stockfish finds this setup very unbalanced, although, strangely enough, my 2022 testing did not show White having an edge.

This setup was flipped left-to-right back in 2008. While not stated, this setup has the same castling rules as Embassy Chess: The king always moves three squares when castling.

Setup: RQNBMKBNAR (Unbalanced)
25-ply Eval: 84 (i.e. White has a 84 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 18
Setup number: 547
Best opening move: e4 (Eval: 84)
Good opening moves: Nd3 (Eval: 83) f4 (Eval: 79)
Pie rule (balanced) opening moves: c3 Nb3 (Eval: ±0)

This is a really unbalanced setup really favoring White:

• The D pawn is undefended
• The I pawn is also undefended
• White can threated mate on the first move with 1. Md3
• 1. Ah3 also threatens mate on the first move
• Fairy Stockfish evaluation of this position shows White with a strong edge, over a pawn strong in some cases (depending on how many plys we look ahead)

It will be very hard for Black to equalize with this setup unless “Pie Rule” is implemented, or we restrict which moves White is allowed to make on his first move.

If one has to use this setup, good Pie Rule moves are 1. c3 or 1. Nb3. Another option is to force White to move a pawn only one square forward on his first move; 1. f3, with a mere 2 centipawn advantage, is White’s best move when we impose that restriction. While the restriction to move a pawn one square forward on White’s first move doesn’t balance things with other setups (in Classic Chess, for example, White can simply play 1. g3! and maintain an edge), it balances things with this setup.

I call this setup “Unbalanced Capa” because it is so unbalanced.

This setup was noted but not named back in 2008 as a weak setup because there is a first move mating threat.

Setup: RBANMKNQBR (Grotesque)
25-ply Eval: 31 (i.e. White has a 31 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 5
Setup number: 177
Best opening move: e4 (Eval: 31)
Good opening moves: Nf3 (Eval: 28) h4 (Eval: 26)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: g3 (Eval: ±0)

Grotesque Chess is a proposed opening setup made in 2004 by Fergus Duniho. Now that we have strong engines to evaluate the starting positions, this position stands the test of time: It’s one of the most balanced Capablanca setups out there.

Indeed, with the exception of my 2008 joke proposal Finesse Chess, and of Capablanca’s first setup, this is the most balanced setup which existed in 2008.

There are two differences between Grotesque Chess and the setup shown here:

• The pieces are flipped left-to-right to have the King on the F file
• Castling is different: The king always moves three squares when castling

Setup: RBMNAKNQBR (Ladorean)
25-ply Eval: 32 (i.e. White has a 32 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 7
Setup number: 297
Best opening move: Nf3 (Eval: 32)
Pie rule (balanced) opening moves: j3 f3 (Eval: ±0)

Ladorean Chess is a 2005 setup proposed by Bernhard U. Hermes.

There are two differences between Ladorean Chess and the setup shown here:

• The pieces are flipped left-to-right to have the King on the F file
• Castling is different: The king always moves three squares when castling

Setup: RBNMAKQNBR (Univers)
25-ply Eval: 36 (i.e. White has a 36 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 14
Setup number: 345
Best opening move: f3 (Eval: 36)
Good opening move: h4 (Eval: 34)
Pie rule (balanced) opening move: Me3 (Eval: ±0)

Univers Chess is a 2006 update to a game originally proposed in 1928. Note that the evaluations here use a different castling rule than the one proposed on the linked page; here the king always moves three squares when castling.

Setup: RABNNKMBQR
30-ply Eval: 14 (i.e. White has a 14 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 1
Setup number: 230
Best opening move: Ne3 (Eval: 14)
Good opening moves: g4 (Eval: 11) c3 (Eval: 10) d4 (Eval: 9)
Pie rule (balanced) opening moves: Nf3 j4 f3 (Eval: ±0)

Setup: RBBQNKNMAR
30-ply Eval: 21 (i.e. White has a 21 centipawn advantage)
Rank: 2
Setup number: 600
Best opening move: c3 (Eval: 21)
Good opening moves: d4 (Eval: 20) Nef3 (Eval: 18)
Pie rule (balanced) opening moves: j3 f3 (Eval: ±0)