Starting position #588
Back-rank setup: QBRNKRBN
SP-588 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
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 f1, the queen on a1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
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: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 284.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 69 Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 297 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +38 → +22 → +9 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #284
- The king starts on e, the rooks on c and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 150 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c6 (d5·9) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g3 (h1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to f2 (g1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c6 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to c7 (c8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b5 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to f8 (b8) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to d6 (h6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: rook to h8 (b8) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 10
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Commentary
The cornered knight on h1 has g3 as its only move, and the engine plays it first: Ng3 f6 c4 b6 f3 c5. The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. The pawn on g2 has no defender, and d2 and e2 both lean on the king alone. The bishops are on b1 and g1, the second knight on d1. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the second rook on c1.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.