Starting position #503
Back-rank setup: RQBNKNRB
SP-503 · 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 e1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on b1.
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 e2 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 546.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 24 Morozov Balance Index: 24 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +35 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 730 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +44 → -14 → +36 → +22
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #546
- The king starts on e, the rooks on a and g
- It becomes the daily position in 908 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d6 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f4 (g3·16) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to h2 (f1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c7 (d5·12) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a2 (b1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: pawn to f6 (g5·15) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: knight to e8 (c7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to c7 (c3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e6 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 1650
- Winning blow: queen to c6 (c5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 49
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on a1 and g1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. Among the pawns, e2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on b1, the knights on d1 and f1. White's edge here is a wide one, +35 centipawns: c3 d5 d4 c6 f4 f5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.