Starting position #261
Back-rank setup: NRBBKNQR
SP-261 · 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 h1, the queen on g1.
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 602.
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 21 Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 759 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: sharpening
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +31 → +43 → +47 → +31
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #602
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and h
- It becomes the daily position in 46 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b8 (a7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h8 (e5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a4 (c6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a7 (b8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g3 (g2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: knight to b6 (c4·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: pawn to g5 (g4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: queen to f5 (f3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Castling-960 to the rescue on h8 (e8·3) — Castling-960 · 1340
- Mate in 3: queen to e7 (e3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
This position appears in course day 68
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks split to b1 and h1. The bishops stand side by side on c1 and d1, one on each colour. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; the second knight is on f1. Among the pawns, a2 begins without a defender. The line in the dataset opens f4 Nb6, then d3 f5 Nb3 Qf7 — both sides bring a knight out early.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.