Starting position #615
Back-rank setup: RNBQKRNB
SP-615 · 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 e1, the rooks on a1 and f1, the queen on d1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 242.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 94 Morozov Balance Index: 94 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +10 centipawns for White (depth 50, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 51 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band E — even · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (54 half-moves): +25 → +11 → +2 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 55): +17 cp, +7 cp against the base run — verified · S — slight edge
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #242
- The king starts on e, the rooks on a and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 758 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c5 (d4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b8 (f4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d4 (f3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e4 (e2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to b7 (b8) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to d6 (h6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to h1 (g2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: pawn to g5 (h4·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 3: queen to a5 (a4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on f5 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 22
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. Among the pawns, h2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on d1 beside her king, the knights on b1 and g1, the second rook in the corner on a1. The search ran to depth 50 here and calls it +10 centipawns: c4 c6 d4 d5 cxd5 cxd5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.