Starting position #619
Back-rank setup: RNQKBRNB
SP-619 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
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 f1, the queen on c1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from d1 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 241.
The engine's main line opens with d3.
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 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 294 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +31 → +11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #241
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and f
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to e2 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (c4·42) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e7 (e4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 850
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g4 (h3·16) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to f3 (f1·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 2: queen to f5 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Winning blow: queen to d6 (b4·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Mate in 3: bishop to f5 (e4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: pawn to g5 (g4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on a6 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 44
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from d1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. Among the pawns, h2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on c1 beside her king, the knights on b1 and g1, the second rook in the corner on a1. The published line opens d3 d6, then c4 c5 Bc3 Bc6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.