Starting position #31
Back-rank setup: NQNRKRBB
SP-31 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
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 f1, the queen on b1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
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 ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 928.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 51 Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 489 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 (51 half-moves): +24 → +24 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #928
- The king starts on e, the rooks on d and f
- 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 f4 (g3·18) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to d1 (f1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (e4·89) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to b8 (f4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to e1 (f1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to b7 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g7 (b2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: rook to c7 (c6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: rook to e8 (e6·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c6 (c5) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
This position appears in course day 94
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Commentary
Both rooks already stand on their castled squares, d1 and f1, so whichever way the king goes from e1, only the king moves. The knight on a1 has one first move, b3; a bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal, to a8. The second bishop, on g1, opens along the f-pawn and the h-pawn. No second-rank pawn begins undefended. The published line opens g3 c6, then d4 f6 f3 d5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.