Starting position #245
Back-rank setup: NRBBKQNR
SP-245 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the 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 b1 and h1, the queen on f1.
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 c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
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 618.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 24 Morozov Balance Index: 24 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +35 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 737 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +50 → +28 → +18 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #618
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and h
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d6 (e5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c5 (b4·13) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b7 (f3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a8 (a7) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f7 (g6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Mate in 2: queen to d5 (b7) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: bishop to b3 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Winning blow: bishop to b6 (e3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Mate in 3: bishop to e5 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: knight to d6 (c4·15) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 59
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on b1 and h1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3, the second on g1. Among the pawns, a2 begins with no defender at all. The queen is on f1 next to the king, the bishops on c1 and d1. The engine's line opens f4 e6, then e4 b5 Nb3 c5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.