Starting position #398
Back-rank setup: QRNNKBBR
SP-398 · ThroneGuard — The king starts in the middle of the back rank, on d or e, and neither 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 e1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on a1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: c2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 756.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 51 Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 50, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 477 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 (60 half-moves): +40 → +31 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #756
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and h
- It becomes the daily position in 228 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a2 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to e2 (e1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c4 (b3·37) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to e7 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to c7 (d5·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: king to c2 (d3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: king to e2 (d1·24) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: queen to h6 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: knight to d5 (c3) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Chess960 tactic on g7 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 18
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on b1 and h1. The queen starts in the far corner on a1, the bishops together on f1 and g1. On the second rank, c2 has no defender, and d2 leans on the king alone. The knights are on c1 and d1. The search ran to depth 50 here and calls it +26 centipawns: e4 e5 f3 f6 d4 exd4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.