Starting position #231
Back-rank setup: NRBQKNRB
SP-231 · 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 g1, the queen on d1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
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 626.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 55 Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 436 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +21 → +24 → +11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #626
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and g
- It becomes the daily position in 371 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: bishop to f4 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d5 (e3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d4 (d1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c3 (d2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b5 (c4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to f6 (h8·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 2: queen to e5 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Mate in 3: bishop to e5 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: pawn to g7 (f6·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: rook to f2 (d2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2290
This position appears in course day 49
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Commentary
A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8, while a knight holds the corner on a1 with one move, b3. Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, the queen on d1. On the second rank, a2 starts with no defender at all, and f2 has only the king. The second bishop is on c1, the second knight on f1. The line in the dataset opens d4 d5, then g3 g6 Nb3 Nb6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.