Starting position #235
Back-rank setup: NRQKBNRB
SP-235 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
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 b1 and g1, the queen on c1.
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 625.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 80 Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 200 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): +36 → +46 → +9 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #625
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and g
- It becomes the daily position in 389 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to a1 (b1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e5 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to c6 (c1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: rook to a2 (a1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to c7 (c5) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: queen to c7 (b6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to d6 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to h7 (e4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Winning blow: bishop to b7 (h1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 2100
This position appears in course day 179
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Commentary
The king starts on d1, the queen on c1, and castling is ordinary in both directions. A knight is in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move; a bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8. The pawn on a2 begins with no defender at all, and e2 has only the king. The second bishop is on e1, the second knight on f1. The published line opens c4 d6, then d3 Ne6 b4 Ba4+ — a check on the sixth half-move.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.