Starting position #486
Back-rank setup: QRBNKBNR
SP-486 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
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 b1 and h1, the queen on a1.
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.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: c2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 566.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 80 Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 195 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +25 → +41 → +18 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #566
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and h
- It becomes the daily position in 381 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b8 (b1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a6 (f1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c7 (b5·16) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to f6 (f5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to f7 (f1·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: queen to h7 (h3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to f6 (a1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: knight to c7 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 2: pawn to f6 (f5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to h7 (g8) — Chess960 specifics · 2100
This position appears in course day 70
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on b1 and h1. Among the pawns, c2 is the one that begins without a defender. The bishops are on c1 and f1, the knights on d1 and g1. The queen begins in the far corner on a1. The engine's first move is the a-pawn, and the edge stays small — +17 centipawns: a4 Nf6 b4 e6 e3 a6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.