Starting position #302
Back-rank setup: QNRKRBBN
SP-302 · 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 d1, the rooks on c1 and e1, the queen on a1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 372.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 83 Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 171 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +34 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #372
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- 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 h3 (g2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to e5 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d7 (d2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 850
- Winning blow: knight to d6 (b5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to d2 (c1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to h2 (g2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to c6 (c5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (d2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b6 (g1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Winning blow: queen to a2 (a1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 36
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. Long castling swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1. A knight sits in the corner on h1 with g3 as its only move, the second on b1. The bishops sit together on f1 and g1, the queen in the corner on a1. The recorded line opens f3 b6, then e4 e5 Nc3 f6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.