Starting position #198
Back-rank setup: QNBRKBNR
SP-198 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
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 d1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
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: c2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 662.
The engine's main line opens with Nf3, bringing the knight out to f3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 83 Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 176 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): +34 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #662
- The king starts on e, the rooks on d and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1015 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e7 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (e4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to c1 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b5 (c3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g7 (a1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to e7 (g5) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to a3 (b2·33) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to e7 (e6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: queen to g5 (h6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: queen to e5 (c3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 31
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Commentary
The engine's first move here is Nf3, exactly as in the classical game — the knight starts on g1 in this setup too. The rook already stands on d1, so long castling moves the king alone from e1. The pawn on c2 begins with no defender at all, and f2 has only the king. The queen is in the corner on a1, the bishops on c1 and f1. After Nf3 the line runs b6 b4 Nf6 Bb2 Bb7, with both dark-square bishops taking the long diagonal.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.