Starting position #173
Back-rank setup: NRNBKQBR
SP-173 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the 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 f1.
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 d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on d2 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 792.
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 21 Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 760 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +32 → +13 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #792
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and h
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g2 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b6 (f2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e5 (g5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h4 (f2·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h5 (f3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to a8 (d5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to e6 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f7 (f1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to g5 (f4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on f1 — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 57
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Commentary
The rooks begin on b1 and h1 and castling is ordinary in both directions from e1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3, the second on c1. On the second rank, d2 leans on the king alone. The queen stands on f1, the bishops on d1 and g1. The engine's line opens e4 f5, then e5 f4 Nab3 Nab6 — the centre closes by the third half-move.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.