Starting position #127
Back-rank setup: NQRNKRBB
SP-127 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on e1, the rooks on c1 and f1, the queen on b1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on d2, e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 832.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 61 Morozov Balance Index: 61 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +23 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 375 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +34 → +11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #832
- The king starts on e, the rooks on c and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 20 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (f4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to c3 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d5 (h1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f5 (b1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to c6 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Mate in 2: queen to f5 — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c5 (f2·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: rook to g1 (e1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e7 (b4·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Winning blow: knight to e3 (f5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 51
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. A knight begins in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; a bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8. The pawns on d2 and e2 both have the king as their only defender. The queen is on b1, the second bishop on g1. The published line opens f4 f5, then Nb3 g6 g3 b6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.