Starting position #506
Back-rank setup: RQNKBBNR
SP-506 · ThroneGuard — The king starts in the middle of the back rank, on d or e, and neither knight begins in a corner.
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 a1 and h1, 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.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 549.
The engine's main line opens with d4, 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 69 Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 301 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: sharpening
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +34 → +20 → +10 → +24
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #549
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 353 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f7 (g5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to h4 (g3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to f5 (g5) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to e1 (d1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Mate in 2: bishop to f5 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to c7 (h2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: knight to d7 (e5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: bishop to h6 (e3·8) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Winning blow: knight to g5 (f3·15) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 71
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The bishops sit together on e1 and f1, the knights on c1 and g1. The queen is on b1. The engine takes the centre with d4 and the line runs d4 d5 e3 e6 c4 dxc4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.