Starting position #314
Back-rank setup: NQRKBBRN
SP-314 · 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 g1, the queen on b1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 357.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
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 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 898 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +71 → +35 → +11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #357
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1376 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d7 — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 850
- Winning blow: queen to h3 (h6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: knight to b5 (d6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: bishop to g5 (h4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to e8 (f8·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (g3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Mate in 2: knight to e6 (c5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d5 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on d7 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 2
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Commentary
Long castling swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1. Both knights start in a corner, a1 and h1, each with a single move: b3 and g3. The bishops sit together on e1 and f1, the queen on b1. On the second rank, h2 is the only one starting without a defender. White's edge here is a wide one, +46 centipawns, and the line runs c4 g6 f4 c5 e3 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.