Starting position #357
Back-rank setup: NRBBKRQN
SP-357 · 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 g1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
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 314.
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 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 50, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 790 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (43 half-moves): +32 → +13 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #314
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b2 (b1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b5 (b1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f7 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 850
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d7 (c5·11) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a7 (g1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to g2 (g1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: rook to d6 (c6) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e7 (e1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (d4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Winning blow: rook to f2 (d2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2290
This position appears in course day 35
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Commentary
The engine's line here is a queen raid: after f4 f5 White takes on a7, and when Black answers Nb6 the queen goes on to b8 — Qxa7 Nb6 Qxb8. Black collects the loose pawn on the other wing in return: Qxa2. 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. The bishops stand side by side on c1 and d1, the queen on g1.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.