Starting position #526
Back-rank setup: RNQKNBBR
SP-526 · ThroneGuard — A centre-file king with no knight on the edge; a position and its mirror twin always share this family.
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 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.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-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 532.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 26 Morozov Balance Index: 26 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 705 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): +33 → +38 → +32 → +13
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #532
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position tomorrow
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c4 (a3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e4 (c3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c5 (f2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d4 (g1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Mate in 2: knight to e7 (g6) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b7 (c5·21) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: rook to d8 (d6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: rook to d8 (d1·25) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Winning blow: pawn to e4 (f3·18) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: queen to c5 (c3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1990
This position appears in course day 75
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 with the queen beside him on c1, and castling is ordinary in both directions. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The bishops sit together on f1 and g1, the knights on b1 and e1. The rooks sit in the corners, a1 and h1. White's edge here is a wide one, +34 centipawns: e4 e5 f4 f6 Be2 c5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.