Starting position #327
Back-rank setup: NRBQKRNB
SP-327 · 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 e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on d1.
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.
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 338.
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 75 Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 52, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 242 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +26 → +27 → +45 → +17
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #338
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1063 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f4 (g3·19) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to a5 (b4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a3 (c1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to d1 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to g5 (f3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to f3 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to b1 (d1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Castling-960 to the rescue on f8 — Castling-960 · 1340
- Winning blow: pawn to h3 (h2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1750
- Chess960 tactic on d4 (a7) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 34
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1, and the queen starts on d1 beside her king. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; the second knight is on g1. The pawns on a2 and h2 both begin with no defender at all. The search ran to depth 52 here and calls it +19 centipawns, with an entirely classical line: c4 Nf6 Nf3 O-O O-O g6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.