Starting position #679
Back-rank setup: QRBKNNRB
SP-679 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
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 b1 and g1, the queen on a1.
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.
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 466.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 72 Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 259 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): +48 → +27 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #466
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and g
- It becomes the daily position in 429 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to a8 (b8) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d3 (e2·12) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f7 (a2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: knight to c3 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: pawn to c6 (c5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to c6 (c2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e7 (a3) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: knight to d5 (e3·15) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Winning blow: bishop to e7 (a3) — Chess960 specifics · 2100
This position appears in course day 69
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on b1 and g1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1 and goes to b2 in the line, where it is traded at once: b4 g6 Bb2 Bxb2 Rxb2 b6. The pawn on f2 has no defender, and e2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the knights side by side on e1 and f1. The search ran to depth 48 and calls it +20 centipawns.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.