Starting position #518
The classic setup — same as standard chess
Back-rank setup: RNBQKBNR
SP-518 · 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 e1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on d1.
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 c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on f2 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
This is the classical starting position, number 518 of the 960, in the ThroneGuard family; its mirror is position 534.
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 93 Morozov Balance Index: 93 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +11 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 67 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #534
- The king starts on e, the rooks on a 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 (d3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to h4 (f3·12) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to c7 (d5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to g1 (h2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c3 (b2·24) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b5 (d3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e7 (c7) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: knight to e6 (g5·16) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Winning blow: rook to g7 (c7·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Chess960 tactic on d5 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 66
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Commentary
This is the position everyone knows: the classical setup, the one Chess960 files under number 518. Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the queen on d1 next to her king and the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. On the second rank, f2 leans on the king alone — the one soft square in the setup everybody learns first. The engine takes the centre with d4 and gives White +11 centipawns after a search to depth 48: d4 Nf6 c4 e6 Nf3 d5. The bishops are on c1 and f1, the knights on b1 and g1.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.