Starting position #202
Back-rank setup: QNRKBBNR
SP-202 · ThroneGuard — A centre-file king with no knight on the edge; a position and its mirror twin always share this family.
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on d1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on a1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 661.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
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 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 612 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +27 → +94 → +111 → +120
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #661
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- 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 h8 (c3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f5 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (e4·62) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to c2 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to e1 (d1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to c2 (c1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f6 (a1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: pawn to f4 (f3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: queen to g7 (f7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1650
- Chess960 tactic on f5 — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 57
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Commentary
Long castling swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1 — an exchange rather than a march. The queen begins in the corner on a1, and every pawn on the second rank starts with a defender. The bishops stand together on e1 and f1, the knights on b1 and g1. The second rook waits on h1. The main line of the run opens b4 Nf6, then d3 d6 a4 g6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.