Starting position #315
Back-rank setup: NQRKBRNB
SP-315 · ThroneScout — Centre-file king, rim knight: 204 of the 960 positions share this pattern.
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 f1, the queen on b1.
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.
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 353.
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 40 Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 578 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 (55 half-moves): +26 → +26 → +1 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #353
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1306 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f6 — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c6 (b5·14) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c3 (c1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to h1 (g1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c1 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (a8·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to b7 (a6) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c8 (b7·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Winning blow: queen to e6 (e4·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on c8 (g8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 2
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Commentary
Long castling swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1; short castling moves the king alone, because the rook already stands on f1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; the second knight is on g1. On the second rank, h2 is the only one starting without a defender. The engine's line ends in a check on the sixth half-move: c4 Nf6 d3 d6 b4 Ba4+.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.