Starting position #158
Back-rank setup: NRNQKBBR
SP-158 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
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 b1 and h1, the queen on d1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 804.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 55 Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 440 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +45 → +53 → +14 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #804
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and h
- It becomes the daily position in 436 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d6 (e5·9) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4·101) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to e1 (f1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to e2 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: pawn to c5 (d4·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: bishop to e2 (f1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b7 (c5·29) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b7 (b2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: rook to g7 (f7·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2100
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d7 (c7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 64
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Commentary
The king begins on e1 with the queen beside him on d1 — the classical pairing — though the rooks sit on b1 and h1. A knight starts in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move. Every pawn on the second rank has a defender from the first move. The bishops stand together on f1 and g1. The recorded line opens e4 e5, then Nab3 Nab6 f4 exf4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.