Starting position #477
Back-rank setup: RNNBKRBQ
SP-477 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
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 f1, the queen on h1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
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 680.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 425 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): +56 → +45 → +19 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #680
- The king starts on e, the rooks on a and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 829 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c4 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to e6 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b7 (h1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: pawn to g3 (h2·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to f1 (e1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: queen to b7 (b6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to f8 (f7·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: queen to e5 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 2: bishop to b6 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to a7 (a4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 14
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. The knights stand side by side on b1 and c1, the bishops on d1 and g1. Among the pawns, b2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen begins in the far corner on h1, the second rook in the corner on a1. The engine takes the centre with e4, and Black's rook recaptures on the sixth half-move: e4 Nc6 Nc3 f5 exf5 Rxf5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.