Starting position #236
Back-rank setup: NBRQKNBR
SP-236 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
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 c1 and h1, 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.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: b2, g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 636.
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 16 Morozov Balance Index: 16 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +39 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 810 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +48 → +40 → +20 → +8
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #636
- The king starts on e, the rooks on c and h
- It becomes the daily position in 548 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4·17) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d4 (e3·25) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to c7 (d6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to h7 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (d1·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (c7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Winning blow: queen to d4 (a7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b7 (c5·25) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Mate in 3: knight to d7 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on e1 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 98
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
Two pawns begin with no defender at all: b2 and g2, one on each wing. Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the queen on d1 next to her king. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3, the second on f1. The bishops are on b1 and g1, the rooks on c1 and h1. The recorded line opens c4 f6, then f3 c6 Nb3 b5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.