Starting position #621
Back-rank setup: RNQBKRBN
SP-621 · ThroneScout — Centre-file king, rim knight: 204 of the 960 positions share this pattern.
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 c1.
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 248.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 787 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): +58 → +47 → +36 → +37
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #248
- 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 316 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g7 (f5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to a3 (a1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to d3 (e2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to a3 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to f2 (f1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to f1 (e1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b5 (a4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: rook to a8 (a7·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to e6 (e7) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on g6 (e7) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 6
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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 b1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. Among the pawns, g2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on c1, the second rook in the corner on a1. White's edge here is a wide one, +38 centipawns: f4 f6 c4 d5 Bb3 dxc4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.