Starting position #326
Back-rank setup: NRBQKBRN
SP-326 · 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 e1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on d1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
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 342.
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 83 Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 169 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +31 → 0 → -7 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #342
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and g
- It becomes the daily position in 332 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f4 (c1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f4 (c1·19) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to h5 (g6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to g6 (e5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to g1 (f1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: king to f1 (e2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to h7 (d3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: king to c2 (b2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: queen to c5 (g1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 23
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the queen on d1 next to her king. Both knights start in a corner, a1 and h1, each with a single move: b3 and g3 — and in the engine's line all four corner knights take those squares: d4 d5 Ng3 Nb6 Nb3 Ng6. The bishops are on c1 and f1, the rooks on b1 and g1. The pawns on a2 and h2 both begin with no defender at all. The engine takes the centre first with d4 and keeps the edge small, +16 centipawns.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.