Starting position #430
Back-rank setup: RNQNKBBR
SP-430 · ThroneGuard — A centre-file king with no knight on the edge; a position and its mirror twin always share this family.
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 c1.
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.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 724.
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 16 Morozov Balance Index: 16 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +39 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 806 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): +44 → +43 → +25 → +9
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #724
- The king starts on e, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 1385 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c2 (a3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h4 (h1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to f5 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: knight to e5 (g4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: knight to d5 (f4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: king to e3 (f2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: queen to f5 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f6 (e7) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to e7 (f6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 2100
This position appears in course day 154
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The bishops sit together on f1 and g1, the queen on c1. The knights are on b1 and d1. White's edge here is a wide one, +39 centipawns, and the line runs d4 d5 f3 f6 e4 c6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.