Starting position #544
Back-rank setup: BBRNKNQR
SP-544 · 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 e1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on g1.
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 e2 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 511.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 72 Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 262 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +10 → +12 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #511
- The king starts on e, the rooks on c and h
- It becomes the daily position in 55 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: rook to a1 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to c5 (c1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c8 (c1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to e3 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to h8 (h1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: rook to b8 (b6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: pawn to e5 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e4 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: rook to h8 (h3) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 69
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on c1 and h1. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second works the light squares from b1. Among the pawns, e2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on g1, the knights on d1 and f1. Both sides mirror each other for six half-moves: c4 c5 b3 b6 h4 h5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.