Transcendental Chess of one side can be any of 4²×6!÷2² = 2880. There is no castling. On the first turn a player, instead of making a move, can transpose any of two pieces on the back row. In Chess960 the back rows are mirror images, but in Transcendental Chess the setup of black and white is different 2879 out of every 2880 times (there being a 1–in–2880 chance that both sides will draw the same setup). This can create inequalities in the position. One way to equalize these inequalities is to play a couplet: the players play two games, one each as
Touch-move rule violation must do so before making a move. A player who wants to adjust a piece on its square without being required to move it can announce the French "j’adoube" ("I adjust") before touching the piece . While "j'adoube" is internationally understood, a local language equivalent such as "adjusting" is usually acceptable. A player may not touch the pieces on the board during the opponent's turn. There is a separate rule that a player who lets go of a piece after making a legal move cannot retract the move. If a player having the move deliberately touches one of their