Starting position #182
Back-rank setup: NRBNKBRQ
SP-182 · 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 g1, the queen on h1.
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 c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 774.
The engine's main line opens with d4, 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 78 Morozov Balance Index: 78 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +18 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 220 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): +3 → -11 → -7 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #774
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and g
- It becomes the daily position in 81 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b8 (f4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g2 (f1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c3 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c3 (c2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: pawn to d7 (d6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Mate in 2: queen to d5 (h1) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g4 (e3·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: queen to a8 (h1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Winning blow: queen to e5 (f6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on d6 (e5) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 90
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the queen tucked away in the corner on h1. A knight begins in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move. On the second rank, a2 has no defender at all. The bishops are on c1 and f1, the rooks on b1 and g1. The recorded line opens d4 g6, then Nb3 Nc6 c3 d5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.