What is Chess 960?

Chess 960, also known as Fischer Random Chess, is a variant of chess created by former World Champion Bobby Fischer to combat what he saw as the growing "death" of chess through memorized opening theory. In Chess 960, the back rank pieces are shuffled randomly before each game (with some restrictions), creating 960 possible starting positions. This forces players to think creatively from the very first move, relying on their understanding of chess principles rather than memorized sequences.

Setup

The setup of Chess 960 follows specific rules to ensure a fair and playable position. The pieces on the back rank are placed randomly, but with three important restrictions:

• The bishops must be placed on opposite-colored squares (one on a dark square, one on a light square),
• the king must be placed between the rooks (to enable castling),
• and the position must be mirrored for both players.

The pawns remain in their traditional positions on the second and seventh ranks. These constraints reduce the total possible starting positions to exactly 960, hence the name.

Castling rules

One of the most distinctive features of Chess 960 is its castling rules. Regardless of where the king and rooks start, the final position after castling is identical to traditional chess: for kingside castling, the king ends up on g1 (g8 for Black) and the rook on f1 (f8), while for queenside castling, the king lands on c1 (c8) and the rook on d1 (d8). All other castling rules remain the same:

• Neither piece can have moved previously,
• the king cannot castle out of, through, or into check,
• all squares between the king's starting and ending positions (including the final square) must be empty (except the castling rook),
• and all squares between the rook's starting and ending positions (including the final square) must be empty (except the castling king).

Chess 960 support on ChessPuzzle.net

I am excited to announce comprehensive Chess 960 support on ChessPuzzle.net. When solving a Chess 960 puzzle where castling is still possible, you'll see a helpful message:
"This is a Chess 960 position. Click your king to see which rooks can castle. Drop the king on the rook to castle."
This intuitive interface makes it easy to understand your castling options at a glance. I've also extended this feature to standard chess puzzles – simply click your king to visualize potential castling moves.

The solution page now supports full Chess 960 games, allowing you to review complete games from this fascinating variant. The integrated chess engine availble on the solution page has been updated to handle Chess 960 positions, providing accurate analysis for all your moves.

Chess 960 example puzzles

Sometimes the unconventional starting positions in Chess 960 can lead to opening catastrophes, as in the following example:

Here is an example where you have to understand the chess 960 castling rules:

Later in the game, the positions often look like normal chess positions, as in this example:

You can play more chess 960 puzzles in the following lists:

• Best of Chess 960
• Weissenhaus Freestyle

Chess 960 tournaments

Chess 960 has gained significant tournament recognition in recent years. The Mainz Chess Classic was an early pioneer, featuring Chess 960 events from 2001-2009. FIDE officially recognized Chess 960 by holding its first World Fischer Random Chess Championship in 2019. The Chess 9LX tournament held by the Saint Louis Chess Club has attracted top players. In 2024, the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Goat Challenge was the first Chess 960 tournament using classical time controls. For 2025 a Freestyle Chess Gand Slam Tour is planned with five major tournaments in Weissenhaus, Paris, New York, Delhi, and Cape Town.