Starting position #560
Back-rank setup: BBRNKNRQ
SP-560 · ThroneGuard — The king starts in the middle of the back rank, on d or e, and neither knight begins in a corner.
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 g1, the queen on h1.
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 495.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 7 Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +46 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 893 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +57 → +85 → +77 → +93
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #495
- The king starts on e, the rooks on c and g
- It becomes the daily position in 851 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c8 (c1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to d4 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to c8 (d6·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to c4 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: queen to h7 (h6·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Mate in 2: rook to d7 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to f7 (f5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: rook to d4 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to d7 (d5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e4 (c3·22) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 201
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on c1 and g1. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second works the light squares from b1. On the second rank, e2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen begins in the far corner on h1, the knights on d1 and f1. White's edge here is a wide one, +46 centipawns: g3 g6 c4 c5 f4 f5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.