How to win a 960 game in even position

1. Have a higher rating.

2. Play opening moves fast like you know 960 opening theory by heart.

3. Move your queen a lot.

4. Get into your enemy's part of the board.

5. Profit.

Instead of 7...Nb4, Black could have moved his Queen there instead 7...Qb4 -- copying your style of moving the queen a lot.   If the rook didn't move, it might work out to attack it with 8...Bd4; and otherwise the Black position looks defensible.  So 7...Nb4 was an inferior move, giving you a pawn and better position.

I'll take the profit; You can keep the rest.

You are right, I guess Nb4 deserves a "?!". :)

@oran_perrett: what joke? It's the actual game.

Maybe he's referring to your guidelines on how to win?

Ah, right. Nah, they are 100% legit.

About the little game, it is significant that Black brought the Queen out first, and that was planned from move 3...b5.  Instead, Black might have played either 3...d6 challenging a c4-c5 pawn advance... or 3...d5 covered by the bishop.  Either move would have allowed the corner knight's development to b6.

@ C-nack: As you can see, these Chess 960 opening moves intrigue me. Thanks!

In the game given above, opening with 1.c4 looks to be a weak way to start out. The reasoning: if castling is desired, then doing that on the left-hand side is indicated since the bishop tandem in the right-hand corner dictates moving the pawns on that side.

But, as the above game develops, neither side looks very attractive for castling!