Starting position #629
Back-rank setup: RNBBKQRN
SP-629 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the 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 e1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on f1.
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 c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 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 234.
The engine's main line opens with e3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 31 Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 664 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +26 → +55 → +34 → +8
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #234
- The king starts on e, the rooks on a and g
- It becomes the daily position in 565 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d6 (b5) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e6 (f5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g8 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b6 (c5·21) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to c1 (g1) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e2 (c3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: bishop to a1 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to e6 (b3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 3: rook to d8 (d7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on d7 (e7) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 4
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the queen on f1 next to her king. The bishops stand side by side on c1 and d1, one on each colour. Among the pawns, h2 is the one that begins without a defender. The knights are on b1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move — and the rooks are on a1 and g1. The engine's line opens e3 e6, then d4 d5 c4 Qd6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.