Starting position #551
Back-rank setup: RNBKNQRB
SP-551 · 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 d1, the rooks on a1 and g1, 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.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 498.
The engine's main line opens with d4, 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 86 Morozov Balance Index: 86 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +15 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 132 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 (70 half-moves): +21 → +13 → +18 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 51): +16 cp, +1 cp against the base run — verified
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #498
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and g
- It becomes the daily position in 700 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f6 (g5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f1 (g1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to a5 (b4·10) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c6 (d5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f2 (g3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to h4 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: knight to d4 — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Mate in 2: queen to d7 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: rook to d8 (d1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: knight to c5 (d3·19) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 65
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on a1 and g1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. Among the pawns, h2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on f1, the knights on b1 and e1. The engine takes the centre with d4 and keeps the edge small, +15 centipawns: d4 f5 Nc3 g5 e3 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.