Starting position #352
Back-rank setup: BBNRKRQN
SP-352 · ThroneScout — A knight starts on the edge (a/h) and the king sits centrally on d or e; the mirror twin stays in this family too.
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 d1 and f1, the queen on g1.
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 a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 319.
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 26 Morozov Balance Index: 26 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 711 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): +47 → +37 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #319
- The king starts on e, the rooks on d and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 12 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: pawn to c4 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e3 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c1 (d3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to f2 (g2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to d7 (c6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: rook to f8 (f1·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to h6 (e3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: pawn to f5 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: rook to f6 (f5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on g4 (g2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 27
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Commentary
Both rooks already stand on their castling squares, d1 and f1, so the king walks alone in either direction from e1. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second works the light squares from b1. A knight sits in the corner on h1 with g3 as its only move, the second on c1. The queen is on g1, and the engine's main line opens c4 c5, then f4 b6 b3 Ng6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.