Starting position #479
Back-rank setup: RNNKRQBB
SP-479 · 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 d1, the rooks on a1 and e1, 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.
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 672.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 6 Morozov Balance Index: 6 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +48 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 908 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +48 → +29 → +26 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #672
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 567 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h3 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to g5 (h4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to b3 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: knight to c6 (a5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to e7 (e1·16) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: queen to f4 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 1470
- Mate in 3: rook to f1 (e1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d4 (f2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h7 (h4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
- Winning blow: queen to g3 (e1·8) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 47
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on a1 and e1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on g1. Among the pawns, b2 has no defender, and c2 leans on the king alone. The knights stand side by side on b1 and c1, the queen on f1. White's edge here is a wide one, +48 centipawns: g3 Nc6 e4 g5 Nd3 e5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.