Starting position #344
Back-rank setup: NBRKBQRN
SP-344 · 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 d1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on f1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: b2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 333.
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 37 Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 609 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +49 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #333
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 73 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b7 (c5·8) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f8 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to d7 (f6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (c6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: pawn to f7 (e6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (d6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f3 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Winning blow: knight to a5 (b3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1620
- Winning blow: queen to b8 (b7·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1750
- Chess960 tactic on e7 (e1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 14
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Commentary
Long castling swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1. Both knights start in a corner, a1 and h1, each with a single move: b3 and g3. Two pawns begin with no defender at all: b2 and h2. The bishops are on b1 and e1, the queen on f1. In the engine's line the corner knight makes two jumps in the first six half-moves: c4 f5 Ng3 f4 Ne4 c6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.