ChessChess openings have been studied for centuries, and top players often have twenty or thirty moves memorized before they start really thinking. Former world champion Fischer hated that, so he came up with a fix: shuffle the back-rank pieces before the game starts. That's Fischer Random, also called Chess960. This site currently plays standard chess; to build your fundamentals first, head to free online chess.
Why Fischer wanted to shuffle the back rank
Fischer formally announced this way of playing in 1996, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His reasoning was simple:
- Opening prep matters too much: in standard chess, whoever has prepared more opening lines often gets an edge from move one.
- Shuffle the pieces and there's nothing to memorize: every game starts from a different position, so you have to think for yourself from the first move.
- It tests understanding, not memory: the principles of developing, fighting for the center and keeping your king safe still apply, but you have to apply them fresh every game.
Others had suggested randomizing the pieces before. Fischer added two rules so that every setup is reasonable and castling is always possible.
How the starting position is set up
The pawns stand where they always do. The eight back-rank pieces are placed randomly following these rules:
- The two bishops go on opposite colors: one on a light square, one on a dark square.
- The king goes between the two rooks: so castling is still possible on both sides.
- Black mirrors White: whatever White's setup is, Black puts the same pieces on the same files.
Exactly 960 setups meet these three rules, hence the name Chess960. The standard chess starting position is one of the 960.
How castling works
Castling in Chess960 looks different, but it ends up exactly the same as in standard chess:
- Short castling (toward the h-file): the king goes to g1 and the rook to f1.
- Long castling (toward the a-file): the king goes to c1 and the rook to d1.
Wherever the king and rook started, they end up on those squares after castling. The other conditions are the same as for standard castling: neither the king nor the rook has moved, the squares between them are empty, and the king isn't in check and doesn't pass through or land on an attacked square.
If the king already starts on g1, it stays put when castling short, and only the rook jumps over.
How it differs from standard chess
| Standard chess | Chess960 | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting position | One fixed position | 960, random every game |
| Opening theory | Huge, needs memorizing | Almost none |
| Other rules | — | Identical, except castling |
| Good for | Studying openings, learning systematically | Testing real thinking, skipping memorization |
Everything you know about tactics, endgames and piece values carries over to Chess960. The only difference is the opening: you can't play memorized moves, so you have to go by principles.
Chess960 today
FIDE later added the Chess960 rules to an appendix of the official Laws of Chess, and in 2019 held the first official FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship. In recent years there have also been big Chess960 tours with top players, sometimes under the name "Freestyle Chess".
Many online platforms offer Chess960 games too, so you can find an opponent any time.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chess960 good for beginners?
It's best to learn standard chess first. The rules of Chess960 are almost the same, but every game starts from a different position, which can be confusing if you're still getting used to how the pieces move. Once the basic opening principles feel natural, Chess960 becomes a lot more fun.
Why does the king have to be between the rooks?
So that castling stays possible on both sides. If the king were in a corner with both rooks on one side, that player could only castle one way, which wouldn't be fair.
Are some of the 960 positions better than others?
Some positions favor White slightly, but the differences are small. Computer analysis shows that most of them are about as fair as standard chess, so events usually draw the position by lot, and some have both players play the same position twice, once with each color.
Give it a try
Chess960 still rests on standard chess development and tactics. First play chess online against the computer for a few games and get the opening principles down; to learn more about Fischer himself, see the world chess champions.