Starting position #487
Back-rank setup: QRBNKNRB
SP-487 · 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 e1, the rooks on b1 and g1, 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.
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: c2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 562.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 31 Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 667 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (38 half-moves): +34 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #562
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and g
- It becomes the daily position in 1034 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4·19) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4·50) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b1 (a1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c8 (c2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to e1 (f1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Mate in 2: knight to h6 (f5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Mate in 3: queen to f8 (g8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: knight to a6 (c5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e3 (g3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Mate in 3: queen to f5 (b1) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
This position appears in course day 64
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on b1 and g1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. The pawn on c2 has no defender, and e2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the knights on d1 and f1. The line runs b4 b5 a4 a6 d3 Nfe6, where Black's knight move needs a letter to say which one went.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.