Starting position #662
Back-rank setup: RNBKRBNQ
SP-662 · ThroneGuard — The king starts in the middle of the back rank, on d or e, and neither 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 a1 and e1, the queen on h1.
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 f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 198.
The engine's main line opens with d4, 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 93 Morozov Balance Index: 93 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +11 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 65 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 (70 half-moves): +7 → +11 → +6 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 57): +12 cp, +1 cp against the base run — verified
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #198
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 47 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b4 (a3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b7 (h1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to b7 (a8) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: pawn to d7 (e6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Mate in 2: knight to c7 — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e6 (h6) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 2: queen to b8 (a7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b7 (b5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: bishop to a5 (c3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d6 (g3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 80
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on a1 and e1. The bishops are on c1 and f1, the knights on b1 and g1. On the second rank, f2 has no defender, and c2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on h1. The search ran to depth 49 here and calls it +11 centipawns: d4 g6 Nf3 d6 Nc3 Bg7.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.