Starting position #482
Back-rank setup: BQRNKBNR
SP-482 · ThroneGuard — The king starts in the middle of the back rank, on d or e, and neither knight begins in a 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 c1 and h1, the queen on b1.
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 a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The pawn on d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 567.
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 55 Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 424 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): +15 → +13 → +10 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #567
- The king starts on e, the rooks on c and h
- It becomes the daily position in 222 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to h2 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g4 (f3·14) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c1 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to a1 (b2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: bishop to f6 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Winning blow: king to e2 (f2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to d7 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to f7 (g6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: queen to e5 (e4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g7 (a1·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
This position appears in course day 98
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on c1 and h1. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on f1. On the second rank, d2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on b1, the knights on d1 and g1. The recorded line opens f4 e6, then e3 f5 Nf3 Nf6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.