Starting position #343
Back-rank setup: NRBKQRNB
SP-343 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
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 b1 and f1, the queen on e1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from d1 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 322.
The engine's main line opens with d3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 93 Morozov Balance Index: 93 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +11 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 69 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 (70 half-moves): +42 → +29 → +22 → +2 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 54): +17 cp, +6 cp against the base run — verified
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #322
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and f
- It becomes the daily position in 608 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (e4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c7 (f4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g2 (h1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b5 (a4·28) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b2 (c1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d4 (c2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d5 (a5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Winning blow: rook to e6 (e1·24) — Chess960 specifics · 1750
- Winning blow: queen to c3 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on c8 (c7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 33
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from d1. The queen begins on e1 beside her king, and in the engine's line she is out on the third half-move: d3 d6 Qa5 a6 c4 Qd7. 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.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.