Starting position #414
Back-rank setup: RQNNKBBR
SP-414 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
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 a1 and h1, the queen on b1.
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.
The pawn on d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 740.
The engine's main line opens with d4, 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 55 Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 50, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 429 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): +23 → +29 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #740
- The king starts on e, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 678 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g6 (h5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c5 (d3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g6 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g3 (h2·22) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g6 (b1) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e3 (g1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to e2 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to c1 (b1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Mate in 2: queen to h6 (h5) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Mate in 3: queen to a8 (c6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
This position appears in course day 52
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. The bishops sit together on f1 and g1, the queen on b1. The pawn on d2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The knights are on c1 and d1. The search ran to depth 50 here and calls it +25 centipawns: d4 f6 e4 e5 dxe5 fxe5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.