Starting position #47
Back-rank setup: NNQRKRBB
SP-47 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the 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 d1 and f1, the queen on c1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
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 912.
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 72 Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 276 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +22 → +49 → +37 → +20
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #912
- The king starts on e, the rooks on d and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1201 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d8 (e7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (d1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b2 (b1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to g2 (f2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (d1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b2 (c1) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e7 (g5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: knight to d4 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on g8 — Chess960 specifics · 2120
- Chess960 tactic on e6 (c8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 55
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
Both rooks already occupy their castled squares, d1 and f1, so from e1 the king castles alone in either direction. The corner knight on a1 has b3 and nothing else; a bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal, to a8. The queen is on c1, the second bishop on g1. Among the pawns, a2 begins with no defender, and e2 has only the king. The engine's line opens f4 f5, then g3 Nb6 d3 g6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.