Starting position #333
Back-rank setup: NRQBKRBN
SP-333 · 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 c1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 344.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 4 Morozov Balance Index: 4 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +50 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 926 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): +85 → +31 → +1 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #344
- 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 155 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b8 (a7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to g2 (f1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g7 (h7·6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: bishop to c5 (g1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g2 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: knight to c6 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (c3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: rook to f8 (f3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: pawn to f5 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e7 (e5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1930
This position appears in course day 32
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. Both knights start in a corner, a1 and h1, each with a single move: b3 and g3 — and the engine plays one of them on the third half-move. The pawns on a2 and g2 both begin with no defender at all. The bishops are on d1 and g1, the queen on c1. White's edge here is a wide one, +50 centipawns, and the line runs f4 f6 Nb3 b6 c4 c5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.