Starting position #303
Back-rank setup: QNRKRNBB
SP-303 · 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 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.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 368.
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 8 Morozov Balance Index: 8 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +45 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 882 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +58 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #368
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1317 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b2 (a1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d6 (b5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h7 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to g5 (e4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: pawn to c4 (b3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to d7 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to d2 (d1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: queen to d6 (d8) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to a8 (e4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on f4 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 1
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Commentary
Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender here, yet the engine still calls it +45 centipawns. Long castling swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on g1. The knights are on b1 and f1, the queen in the corner on a1. The main line opens f4 f5, then g4 g6 gxf5 gxf5 — the g-file comes open on both sides at once.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.