Starting position #455
Back-rank setup: RNBNKQRB
SP-455 · ThroneGuard — King home on d or e, knights kept off the a- and h-files — the family of the standard starting array.
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 g1, the queen on f1.
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.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: c2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 690.
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 91 Morozov Balance Index: 91 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +13 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 93 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 (70 half-moves): +21 → -13 → 0 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 50): +18 cp, +5 cp against the base run — verified
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #690
- The king starts on e, the rooks on a and g
- 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 a2 (a1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 (g5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b3 (a2·26) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c7 (d5·14) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to g7 (h6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to g6 (g3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f8 (f5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: queen to c8 (h8) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Winning blow: rook to g8 (g1·15) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Chess960 tactic on f5 (e5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 41
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the queen on f1 next to her king. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. Two pawns begin with no defender at all: c2 and h2. The knights are on b1 and d1, the second rook in the corner on a1. The engine keeps the edge small, +13 centipawns: f4 f5 d3 g6 Bd2 b6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.