Starting position #491
Back-rank setup: QRNKBNRB
SP-491 · 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 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.
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 561.
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 51 Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 474 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): +41 → +16 → +22 → +7
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #561
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and g
- It becomes the daily position in 1357 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d4 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c3 (d2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to b3 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d4 (c3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a6 (a1) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f7 (d5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (c4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to f7 (g8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to d7 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Chess960 tactic on b7 (b6) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 65
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on b1 and g1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. 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 knights on c1 and f1. The engine's line opens g3 g6, then a4 d6 d3 a5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.