Starting position #674
Back-rank setup: BQRKNBNR
SP-674 · 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 c1 and h1, the queen on b1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
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 471.
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 91 Morozov Balance Index: 91 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +13 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 86 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): +16 → +23 → +18 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 54): +17 cp, +4 cp against the base run — verified
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #471
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 179 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b7 (c5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Winning blow: king to d3 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g5 (f3·12) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to a6 (f1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: pawn to f4 (e3·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: bishop to a3 (b4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: bishop to f6 (b2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (d1·21) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Winning blow: queen to d6 (a3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1650
- Winning blow: pawn to d5 (c4·21) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 10
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Commentary
Long castling swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on f1. On the second rank, f2 has no defender, and d2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on b1, the knights on e1 and g1, the second rook in the corner on h1. The engine keeps the edge small, +13 centipawns: e3 c5 c4 b6 f4 g6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.