Starting position #660
Back-rank setup: RBBNKRNQ
SP-660 · ThroneGuard — King on a central file (d/e) with both knights on inner files — the classic-type setup.
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 h1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from e1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 206.
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 59 Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 394 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): +34 → +38 → +41 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #206
- 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 1252 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d3 (e2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c7 (d6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d6 (e4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c6 (e4·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to f8 (f3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g6 (h7·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: knight to g7 (f5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Winning blow: queen to b8 (a8·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: pawn to f6 (e5·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Mate in 3: queen to c7 (b7·4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 39
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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 b1 and c1, one on each colour. The queen begins in the far corner on h1, the knights on d1 and g1, the second rook in the corner on a1. The engine's main line opens f4 f5, then Nf3 d6 d3 g6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.