Starting position #353
Back-rank setup: BNRBKRQN
SP-353 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the 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 e1, the rooks on c1 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.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 315.
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 55 Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 52, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 431 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +46 → +21 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #315
- The king starts on e, the rooks on c and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 662 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a3 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g5 (f4·16) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f3 (g2·13) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g6 (f5·17) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to b8 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to e3 (f2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f3 (e2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to d5 (h1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f3 (f1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Chess960 tactic on d6 (a6) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 47
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. A knight sits in the corner on h1 with g3 as its only move, the second on b1. A bishop is closed into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1. Among the pawns, a2 is the one that begins without a defender. The search ran to depth 52 here and settles on +25 centipawns: f4 b6 b3 e6 e3 f5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.