Starting position #490
Back-rank setup: QRNKBBNR
SP-490 · ThroneGuard — A centre-file king with no knight on the edge; a position and its mirror twin always share this family.
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 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 e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on c2 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 565.
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 31 Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 666 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 (60 half-moves): +40 → +10 → +11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #565
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and h
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e4 (f3·17) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to e2 (d1·15) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to b8 (b6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to d4 (e2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: queen to c8 (b7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: queen to c8 (c5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Mate in 3: knight to a5 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to f5 (f8) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: pawn to c8 (c7·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Chess960 tactic on f5 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 208
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on b1 and h1. The bishops sit together on e1 and f1, the knights on c1 and g1. Among the pawns, c2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen begins in the far corner on a1. The engine takes the centre with e4 and the line runs e4 b5 f3 d6 d4 g6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.