Starting position #188
Back-rank setup: NBRNKRBQ
SP-188 · 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 c1 and f1, the queen on h1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
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 780.
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 37 Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 613 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +64 → +30 → +5 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #780
- 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 1215 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to a4 (c5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d5 (g2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to e6 (e5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to f2 (g1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c1 (a2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d4 (e3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: queen to c8 (b8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: knight to f5 (g7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1480
- Mate in 3: bishop to h4 (f2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1950
- Chess960 tactic on e6 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 18
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Commentary
The rook already stands on f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. The queen sits in the corner on h1, a knight in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move. Both d2 and e2 lean on the king alone. The bishops are on b1 and g1, the second knight on d1. The recorded line opens f4 f5, then g3 c6 c3 Be6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.