Starting position #552
Back-rank setup: RBNKBNQR
SP-552 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
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 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.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 509.
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 78 Morozov Balance Index: 78 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +18 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 213 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): +23 → +13 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #509
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 379 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f5 (g3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e4 (f3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to c2 (d1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to c5 (b5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: king to h1 (g1·32) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 2: knight to b6 (d7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: queen to d8 (b6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: knight to b4 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1750
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (d5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on d6 (d1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 68
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. The bishops are on b1 and e1, the knights on c1 and f1. Among the pawns, b2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on g1. The engine takes the centre with e4 and the line runs e4 f6 a4 e5 f3 Ne6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.