Starting position #499
Back-rank setup: BRQNKNRB
SP-499 · 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 c1.
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.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 547.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 71 Morozov Balance Index: 71 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +18 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 280 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- In 50 self-play games White scored 54.0% (95% CI 40.4–67.0%).
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +23 → +29 → -8 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #547
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and g
- It becomes the daily position in 469 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c6 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d3 (e2·9) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d5 (e3·8) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to e4 (f6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b8 (c7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: queen to e7 (d7) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: queen to f6 (f3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 2: queen to f7 (f6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Mate in 3: rook to f4 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: knight to g7 (f5·8) — Chess960 specifics · 2290
This position appears in course day 50
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
Both corners hold a bishop, a1 towards h8 and h1 towards a8, each with a single diagonal. Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on b1 and g1. The pawn on a2 has no defender, and e2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on c1, the knights on d1 and f1. Both sides mirror each other for six half-moves: b3 b5 c4 c5 d3 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.