Starting position #475
Back-rank setup: RNNKBRQB
SP-475 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on d1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on g1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from d1 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: b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 673.
The engine's main line opens with Nc3, bringing the knight out to c3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 83 Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 160 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): +20 → +14 → +13 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #673
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and f
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b2 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to c2 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to h6 (f5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to e8 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Winning blow: queen to c4 (d5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to e8 (f6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 3: knight to f6 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to f8 (f7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: pawn to d6 (e5·18) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on f8 (e7) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 109
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from d1. The engine opens with a knight, Nc3 — the one from b1, with the second on c1 right beside it. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. The pawn on b2 has no defender, and c2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on g1, and the line runs Nc3 g5 g4 Nc6 Nd3 Nd6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.