Starting position #183
Back-rank setup: NRBNKRQB
SP-183 · ThroneScout — Centre-file king, rim knight: 204 of the 960 positions share this pattern.
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 f1, the queen on g1.
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.
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 770.
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 80 Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 50, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 203 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): +32 → +2 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #770
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 66 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b3 (c2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b3 (c2·11) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to g1 (f1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to d7 (c6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to c6 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Winning blow: rook to g8 (g6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: rook to d5 (c5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1420
- Mate in 3: king to e3 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to b7 (a7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
- Chess960 tactic on f8 (f1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 90
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; a bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8. On the second rank, a2 begins with no defender at all, and e2 has only the king — and the engine's line shows what that invites. After f4 f5 the queen takes on a7, and once she returns with Qf2 Black collects the other loose pawn: Qxa2. The second bishop stands on c1, the queen on g1.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.