Starting position #545
Back-rank setup: BRNBKNQR
SP-545 · 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 b1 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.
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 507.
The engine's main line opens with e3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 20 Morozov Balance Index: 20 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +37 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 771 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +32 → +73 → +69 → +50
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #507
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and h
- It becomes the daily position in 801 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f4 (g3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to e6 (d5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to h8 (f7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to b1 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to d4 (f2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: bishop to f6 (b2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 3: bishop to f6 (a1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: king to h2 (g3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: knight to e5 (d7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Chess960 tactic on e6 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 115
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on b1 and h1. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. A bishop is closed into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1. The queen is on g1, the knights on c1 and f1. White's edge here is a wide one, +37 centipawns: e3 e6 h4 b6 h5 h6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.