Starting position #589
Back-rank setup: QRNBKRBN
SP-589 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
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 b1 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 d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- 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 280.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 21 Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 754 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +31 → +38 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #280
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 853 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to f1 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e4 (g3·10) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (e4·104) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to a5 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Mate in 2: rook to e8 (e1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: rook to d1 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: queen to c7 (c5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 2: rook to g6 (g1) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: bishop to f3 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on e8 (e7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 27
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. The bishops are on d1 and g1, the knights on c1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. The pawn on g2 has no defender, and d2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the second rook on b1. White's edge here is a wide one, +36 centipawns: f3 f6 d4 Ng6 Bf2 e5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.