Starting position #556
Back-rank setup: RBNKNQBR
SP-556 · 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 d1, 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 b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-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 508.
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 77 Morozov Balance Index: 77 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 223 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- In 50 self-play games White scored 52.0% (95% CI 38.5–65.2%).
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +20 → 0 → -8 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #508
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 407 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b6 (g1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to e2 (d1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f8 (c5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to d6 (d1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to d2 (c1·17) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Mate in 2: knight to d5 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c6 (e5·17) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: rook to b5 (e5) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f7 (e5·26) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on d7 (d6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 94
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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 g1, the knights on c1 and e1. Among the pawns, b2 has no defender, and d2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on f1. Both sides mirror each other for six half-moves: e4 e5 c3 c6 f3 f6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.