Starting position #562
Back-rank setup: BRNKNBRQ
SP-562 · 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 b1 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.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 487.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 59 Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 396 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +30 → +20 → +29 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #487
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and g
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to h8 (a1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to c4 (b4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: pawn to e7 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a8 (e4·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to a3 (c2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f8 (f5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f8 (f5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Winning blow: knight to e5 (d3·22) — Chess960 specifics · 1620
- Winning blow: bishop to f6 (g7·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e5 (e3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 30
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on b1 and g1. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on f1. Among the pawns, f2 has no defender, and d2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on h1, the knights on c1 and e1. The main line of the run opens b3 b6, then f3 f6 h4 e5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.