Starting position #306
Back-rank setup: BNQRKBRN
SP-306 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
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 d1 and g1, the queen on c1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from e1 to c1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
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 359.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 28 Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 694 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +38 → +41 → +56 → +63
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #359
- The king starts on e, the rooks on d and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1195 days
Puzzles from this position
- Mate in 1: queen to d8 — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b5 (c4·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (c4·90) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to f6 (h5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to h4 (g5) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g6 (g5) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: king to c3 (d2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: knight to d5 (c3·15) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: rook to g2 (f2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1650
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f6 (h5·10) — Chess960 specifics · 2150
This position appears in course day 6
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Commentary
The rook already occupies d1, so long castling moves the king alone from e1. A knight sits in the corner on h1 with g3 as its only move, the second on b1. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on f1. The pawns on a2 and h2 both begin with no defender at all. The engine takes the centre with d4 and the line ends in a check: d4 d5 b3 e6 c4 Bb4+.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.