Starting position #210
Back-rank setup: BNQRKBNR
SP-210 · 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 c1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 647.
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 99 Morozov Balance Index: 99 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +4 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 14 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band E — even · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (70 half-moves): +20 → +13 → 0 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 57): +11 cp, +7 cp against the base run — verified · S — slight edge
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #647
- 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 421 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e4 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c6 (d5·10) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c7 (b5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to b7 (f3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to g1 (f1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: knight to e6 (d4·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to c6 (c5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to e6 (d4·16) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: bishop to d4 (a1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Winning blow: queen to c4 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 26
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Commentary
The engine's first move here is Nf3, the same knight jump the classical game begins with. The rook already occupies d1, so long castling moves the king alone from e1. The pawn on a2 begins with no defender at all, and f2 has only the king. The queen is on c1, the bishops on a1 and f1 — the first shut into its corner with one diagonal to h8. After Nf3 Nf6 the line runs b3 d5 e3 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.