Starting position #626
Back-rank setup: BRNKQBRN
SP-626 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a corner.
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 g1, the queen on e1.
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 a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
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 231.
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 83 Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 156 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +22 → +10 → +10 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #231
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and g
- It becomes the daily position in 258 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g6 (h5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b4 (b1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (e4·39) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f5 (e4·49) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f5 (d3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to d7 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to f8 (f5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: queen to d2 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 1480
- Mate in 3: rook to e7 (e6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on b7 (c6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 47
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 with the queen beside him on e1, and castling is ordinary in both directions. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on f1. On the second rank, h2 has no defender, and c2 leans on the king alone. The knights are on c1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move — and the rooks are on b1 and g1. The recorded line opens f4 b6, then b3 d5 g4 Nd6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.