Starting position #591
Back-rank setup: QRNKRNBB
SP-591 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
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 e1, the queen on a1.
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 h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on c2 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 272.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 2 Morozov Balance Index: 2 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +54 centipawns for White (depth 41, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 942 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 (55 half-moves): +63 → +32 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #272
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 959 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b6 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b7 (h1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to c1 (d2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f7 (e5·23) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d4 (c3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to b5 (b4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b3 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 1470
- Mate in 3: queen to b6 (f2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to h7 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f6 (f5) — Chess960 specifics · 2150
This position appears in course day 2
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
White's edge here is unusually wide: +54 centipawns at depth 41. The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on b1 and e1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on g1. On the second rank, c2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the knights on c1 and f1, and the line runs b4 f5 g3 d6 f4 e5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.