Starting position #618
Back-rank setup: RNQKBBRN
SP-618 · 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 d1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on c1.
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.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 245.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 20 Morozov Balance Index: 20 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +37 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 769 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (43 half-moves): +58 → +13 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #245
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and g
- It becomes the daily position in 503 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d5 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g8 (g5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b3 (b2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: bishop to e1 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 (c5·18) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Mate in 2: queen to e5 (c7) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: bishop to d6 (g3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 3: bishop to f7 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to e8 (e5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Mate in 3: queen to f7 (g8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2170
This position appears in course day 62
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 with the queen beside him on c1, and castling is ordinary in both directions. The bishops sit together on e1 and f1, the knights on b1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. Among the pawns, h2 is the one that begins without a defender. The rooks are on a1 and g1. White's edge here is a wide one, +37 centipawns: d4 d5 e4 Nc6 Nc3 dxe4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.