Starting position #263
Back-rank setup: NRBKNQRB
SP-263 · 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 d1, the rooks on b1 and g1, 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.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 594.
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 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 791 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): +50 → +75 → +36 → +9
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #594
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and g
- 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 d4 (c3·9) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h2 (f2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to f1 (e1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Castling-960 to the rescue on b1 — Castling-960 · 1150
- Winning blow: bishop to e6 (d5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to e7 (d8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: queen to e5 (d5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Mate in 3: queen to c6 (c3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: knight to g7 (e6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on e4 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 114
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 with castling ordinary in both directions. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3, the second on e1. The pawns on a2 and h2 both start with no defender at all. The engine's line opens f4 f5, then Nf3 Nf6 g3 Qf7.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.