Starting position #273
Back-rank setup: BNRBKNRQ
SP-273 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
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 g1, the queen on h1.
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 a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 587.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 7 Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +46 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 899 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +33 → +41 → +20 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #587
- The king starts on e, the rooks on c and g
- It becomes the daily position in 507 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (c4·33) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b4 (a3·14) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to c8 (c1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h4 (h2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c8 (c1·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to e1 (e2) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: king to g1 (h1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: queen to d8 (d6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1480
- Mate in 3: pawn to f7 (e6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (c6·8) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 62
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on c1 and g1. The queen starts in the corner on h1. A bishop is closed into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1. On the second rank, a2 has no defender, and f2 leans on the king alone. The line in the dataset opens g4 Nc6, then e3 e6 h4 h6 — the g- and h-pawns lead the way.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.