Starting position #645
Back-rank setup: RNBBKRQN
SP-645 · 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 g1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 218.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 24 Morozov Balance Index: 24 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +35 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 727 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): +31 → +51 → +27 → +11
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #218
- 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 1106 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g8 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c4 (d3·11) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b5 (c3·10) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to f2 (e1·8) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: bishop to g4 (e2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to f1 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Mate in 2: knight to d6 (f5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Castling-960 to the rescue on a1 (e1) — Castling-960 · 1340
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e5 (c5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on d3 — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 19
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from e1. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The bishops stand side by side on c1 and d1, one on each colour. The queen is on g1, the knights on b1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. White's edge here is a wide one, +35 centipawns: e4 e6 f4 f5 e5 b6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.