Starting position #533
Back-rank setup: RNBBKQNR
SP-533 · 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 h1, the queen on f1.
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 d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 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 522.
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 16 Morozov Balance Index: 16 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +39 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 804 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (48 half-moves): +47 → +20 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #522
- The king starts on e, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 138 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h8 (e5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (e4·15) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d7 (a4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f4 (c1·28) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to a7 (c5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: pawn to g3 (g2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f6 (h7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (d1·13) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (f3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Chess960 tactic on c7 (f7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 53
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the queen on f1 next to her king. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The bishops stand side by side on c1 and d1, one on each colour. The rooks sit in the corners, a1 and h1, the knights on b1 and g1. White's edge here is a wide one, +39 centipawns: e4 e5 f4 d6 d3 Nc6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.