Starting position #373
Back-rank setup: NRBBKRNQ
SP-373 · 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 e1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on h1.
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 298.
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 3 Morozov Balance Index: 3 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +51 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 933 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #298
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 213 days
Puzzles from this position
This position appears in course day 66
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; the second knight is on g1. The bishops stand side by side on c1 and d1, the queen in the corner on h1. Among the pawns, a2 is the one that begins without a defender. White's edge here is a wide one, +51 centipawns, and the line runs f4 d6 d3 f5 c4 Bd7.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. Commentary exists for 960 of 960 positions so far.