Show HN: Chess960v2.com – 960×960 asymmetric chess, 600/960 rounds done

A solo developer has completed 600 out of 960 rounds of a round-robin tournament analyzing Chess960v2, a variant where White and Black each independently choose from 960 valid setups, creating 921,600 possible starting combinations. The milestone was announced on Hacker News as a Show HN post on the project's live site.

The tournament pits every asymmetrical setup against every other setup using Stockfish running at 2 seconds per move to keep server costs manageable. Unlike standard Chess960, where both players use the same random position, Chess960v2 allows either side to configure their starting pieces independently. The project aims to mathematically identify which combinations maintain a 50/50 win balance and which create engine bias toward White or Black due to the asymmetry. With 600 rounds complete, the developer is tracking toward finishing the full 960-round tournament.

The developer runs this as a side project while working a demanding full-time job. Per the announcement, the platform continuously runs Stockfish self-play games to accumulate enough data to detect statistically meaningful patterns in setup balance. The goal is empirical: move beyond theory and anecdote to find hard data on which asymmetric positions advantage one side in engine play.

The project reflects a growing interest in Chess960 variants and computational analysis of opening imbalance. Standard Chess960 randomizes the starting position but keeps it identical for both players, a feature that already changes opening theory significantly. Chess960v2's asymmetry layer adds a new dimension—whether a side can gain advantage by picking a stronger setup than its opponent. The continuous tournament will surface which position pairs are fairest for competitive play.