diff --git a/src/mcts/params.cc b/src/mcts/params.cc
index 5c1665d218..416aca51b7 100644
--- a/src/mcts/params.cc
+++ b/src/mcts/params.cc
@@ -109,24 +109,27 @@ const OptionId SearchParams::kSmartPruningFactorId{
     "pruning is deactivated."};
 const OptionId SearchParams::kFpuStrategyId{
     "fpu-strategy", "FpuStrategy",
-    "How is an eval of unvisited node determined. \"reduction\" subtracts "
-    "--fpu-reduction value from the parent eval. \"absolute\" sets eval of "
-    "unvisited nodes to the value specified in --fpu-value."};
-// TODO(crem) Make FPU in "reduction" mode use fpu-value too. For now it's kept
-// for backwards compatibility.
-const OptionId SearchParams::kFpuReductionId{
-    "fpu-reduction", "FpuReduction",
-    "\"First Play Urgency\" reduction (used when FPU strategy is "
-    "\"reduction\"). Normally when a move has no visits, "
-    "it's eval is assumed to be equal to parent's eval. With non-zero FPU "
-    "reduction, eval of unvisited move is decreased by that value, "
-    "discouraging visits of unvisited moves, and saving those visits for "
-    "(hopefully) more promising moves."};
+    "How is an eval of unvisited node determined. \"First Play Urgency\" "
+    "changes search behavior to visit unvisited nodes earlier or later by "
+    "using a placeholder eval before checking the network. The value specified "
+    "with --fpu-value results in \"reduction\" subtracting that value from the "
+    "parent eval while \"absolute\" directly uses that value."};
 const OptionId SearchParams::kFpuValueId{
     "fpu-value", "FpuValue",
-    "\"First Play Urgency\" value. When FPU strategy is \"absolute\", value of "
-    "unvisited node is assumed to be equal to this value, and does not depend "
-    "on parent eval."};
+    "\"First Play Urgency\" value used to adjust unvisited node eval based on "
+    "--fpu-strategy."};
+const OptionId SearchParams::kFpuStrategyAtRootId{
+    "fpu-strategy-at-root", "FpuStrategyAtRoot",
+    "How is an eval of unvisited root children determined. Just like "
+    "--fpu-strategy except only at the root level and adjusts unvisited root "
+    "children eval with --fpu-value-at-root. In addition to matching the "
+    "strategies from --fpu-strategy, this can be \"same\" to disable the "
+    "special root behavior."};
+const OptionId SearchParams::kFpuValueAtRootId{
+    "fpu-value-at-root", "FpuValueAtRoot",
+    "\"First Play Urgency\" value used to adjust unvisited root children eval "
+    "based on --fpu-strategy-at-root. Has no effect if --fpu-strategy-at-root "
+    "is \"same\"."};
 const OptionId SearchParams::kCacheHistoryLengthId{
     "cache-history-length", "CacheHistoryLength",
     "Length of history, in half-moves, to include into the cache key. When "
@@ -197,8 +200,10 @@ void SearchParams::Populate(OptionsParser* options) {
   options->Add<FloatOption>(kSmartPruningFactorId, 0.0f, 10.0f) = 1.33f;
   std::vector<std::string> fpu_strategy = {"reduction", "absolute"};
   options->Add<ChoiceOption>(kFpuStrategyId, fpu_strategy) = "reduction";
-  options->Add<FloatOption>(kFpuReductionId, -100.0f, 100.0f) = 1.2f;
-  options->Add<FloatOption>(kFpuValueId, -1.0f, 1.0f) = -1.0f;
+  options->Add<FloatOption>(kFpuValueId, -100.0f, 100.0f) = 1.2f;
+  fpu_strategy.push_back("same");
+  options->Add<ChoiceOption>(kFpuStrategyAtRootId, fpu_strategy) = "same";
+  options->Add<FloatOption>(kFpuValueAtRootId, -100.0f, 100.0f) = 1.0f;
   options->Add<IntOption>(kCacheHistoryLengthId, 0, 7) = 0;
   options->Add<FloatOption>(kPolicySoftmaxTempId, 0.1f, 10.0f) = 2.2f;
   options->Add<IntOption>(kMaxCollisionEventsId, 1, 1024) = 32;
@@ -225,8 +230,15 @@ SearchParams::SearchParams(const OptionsDict& options)
       kSmartPruningFactor(options.Get<float>(kSmartPruningFactorId.GetId())),
       kFpuAbsolute(options.Get<std::string>(kFpuStrategyId.GetId()) ==
                    "absolute"),
-      kFpuReduction(options.Get<float>(kFpuReductionId.GetId())),
       kFpuValue(options.Get<float>(kFpuValueId.GetId())),
+      kFpuAbsoluteAtRoot(
+          (options.Get<std::string>(kFpuStrategyAtRootId.GetId()) == "same" &&
+           kFpuAbsolute) ||
+          options.Get<std::string>(kFpuStrategyAtRootId.GetId()) == "absolute"),
+      kFpuValueAtRoot(options.Get<std::string>(kFpuStrategyAtRootId.GetId()) ==
+                              "same"
+                          ? kFpuValue
+                          : options.Get<float>(kFpuValueAtRootId.GetId())),
       kCacheHistoryLength(options.Get<int>(kCacheHistoryLengthId.GetId())),
       kPolicySoftmaxTemp(options.Get<float>(kPolicySoftmaxTempId.GetId())),
       kMaxCollisionEvents(options.Get<int>(kMaxCollisionEventsId.GetId())),
diff --git a/src/mcts/params.h b/src/mcts/params.h
index 21bcf0d9a2..c106e6c46e 100644
--- a/src/mcts/params.h
+++ b/src/mcts/params.h
@@ -78,9 +78,8 @@ class SearchParams {
     return options_.Get<bool>(kLogLiveStatsId.GetId());
   }
   float GetSmartPruningFactor() const { return kSmartPruningFactor; }
-  bool GetFpuAbsolute() const { return kFpuAbsolute; }
-  float GetFpuReduction() const { return kFpuReduction; }
-  float GetFpuValue() const { return kFpuValue; }
+  bool GetFpuAbsolute(bool at_root) const { return at_root ? kFpuAbsoluteAtRoot : kFpuAbsolute; }
+  float GetFpuValue(bool at_root) const { return at_root ? kFpuValueAtRoot : kFpuValue; }
   int GetCacheHistoryLength() const { return kCacheHistoryLength; }
   float GetPolicySoftmaxTemp() const { return kPolicySoftmaxTemp; }
   int GetMaxCollisionEvents() const { return kMaxCollisionEvents; }
@@ -116,8 +115,9 @@ class SearchParams {
   static const OptionId kLogLiveStatsId;
   static const OptionId kSmartPruningFactorId;
   static const OptionId kFpuStrategyId;
-  static const OptionId kFpuReductionId;
   static const OptionId kFpuValueId;
+  static const OptionId kFpuStrategyAtRootId;
+  static const OptionId kFpuValueAtRootId;
   static const OptionId kCacheHistoryLengthId;
   static const OptionId kPolicySoftmaxTempId;
   static const OptionId kMaxCollisionEventsId;
@@ -144,8 +144,9 @@ class SearchParams {
   const bool kNoise;
   const float kSmartPruningFactor;
   const bool kFpuAbsolute;
-  const float kFpuReduction;
   const float kFpuValue;
+  const bool kFpuAbsoluteAtRoot;
+  const float kFpuValueAtRoot;
   const int kCacheHistoryLength;
   const float kPolicySoftmaxTemp;
   const int kMaxCollisionEvents;
diff --git a/src/mcts/search.cc b/src/mcts/search.cc
index 29d995f0ab..ae4169e6d9 100644
--- a/src/mcts/search.cc
+++ b/src/mcts/search.cc
@@ -189,13 +189,10 @@ int64_t Search::GetTimeToDeadline() const {
 
 namespace {
 inline float GetFpu(const SearchParams& params, Node* node, bool is_root_node) {
-  return params.GetFpuAbsolute()
-             ? params.GetFpuValue()
-             : ((is_root_node && params.GetNoise()) ||
-                !params.GetFpuReduction())
-                   ? -node->GetQ()
-                   : -node->GetQ() - params.GetFpuReduction() *
-                                         std::sqrt(node->GetVisitedPolicy());
+  const auto value = params.GetFpuValue(is_root_node);
+  return params.GetFpuAbsolute(is_root_node)
+             ? value
+             : -node->GetQ() - value * std::sqrt(node->GetVisitedPolicy());
 }
 
 inline float ComputeCpuct(const SearchParams& params, uint32_t N) {
diff --git a/src/selfplay/tournament.cc b/src/selfplay/tournament.cc
index 6849797f35..5c2d7b4e59 100644
--- a/src/selfplay/tournament.cc
+++ b/src/selfplay/tournament.cc
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ void SelfPlayTournament::PopulateOptions(OptionsParser* options) {
   defaults->Set<float>(SearchParams::kSmartPruningFactorId.GetId(), 0.0f);
   defaults->Set<float>(SearchParams::kTemperatureId.GetId(), 1.0f);
   defaults->Set<bool>(SearchParams::kNoiseId.GetId(), true);
-  defaults->Set<float>(SearchParams::kFpuReductionId.GetId(), 0.0f);
+  defaults->Set<float>(SearchParams::kFpuValueId.GetId(), 0.0f);
   defaults->Set<std::string>(SearchParams::kHistoryFillId.GetId(), "no");
   defaults->Set<std::string>(NetworkFactory::kBackendId.GetId(),
                              "multiplexing");