Starting position #530
Back-rank setup: BRNKQBNR
SP-530 · 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 b1 and h1, the queen on e1.
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.
The pawn on c2 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 519.
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 37 Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 603 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): +40 → +8 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #519
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and h
- It becomes the daily position in 430 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b5 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g4 (f2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f6 (e5·16) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to e4 (f2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to d4 (a1) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: pawn to d4 (e3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to a8 (a6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: bishop to f6 (a1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to g7 (b2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Winning blow: queen to d6 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 56
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 with the queen beside him on e1, and castling is ordinary in both directions. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on f1. On the second rank, c2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The knights are on c1 and g1, the rooks on b1 and h1. The engine takes the centre with e4 and Black answers in kind: e4 e5 f3 b5 b3 c5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.