Starting position #663
Back-rank setup: RNBKRNQB
SP-663 · ThroneGuard — Both knights start on inner files (b–g) while the king sits centrally on d or e — one of 204 positions filed here.
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 g1.
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 h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on c2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 194.
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 80 Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 187 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): +14 → +11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #194
- 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 521 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c3 (b2·11) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to d5 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to h6 (d2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to e6 (f5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: king to b2 (c1·26) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: queen to c6 (c4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Mate in 3: queen to c5 (g1) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to b5 (c5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Mate in 3: king to d2 (d1) — Chess960 specifics · 1820
- Chess960 tactic on f4 (c1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 119
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on a1 and e1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. On the second rank, c2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on g1, the knights on b1 and f1. The line in the dataset opens f4 f5, then Nc3 d6 d3 Nc6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.