Starting position #684
Back-rank setup: QBRKNNBR
SP-684 · 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 d1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on a1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on e2 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 476.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 21 Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 753 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +43 → +22 → +12 → +23
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #476
- 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 1405 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f2 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a7 (f2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f7 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to h5 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (c4·112) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 (c5·24) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: rook to d5 (d3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: rook to a7 (b7) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to d7 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1990
- Chess960 tactic on g5 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 31
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Commentary
Long castling swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1. The bishops are on b1 and g1, the knights side by side on e1 and f1. The pawn on e2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the second rook in the corner on h1. White's edge here is a wide one, +36 centipawns: c4 c5 f3 Ne6 h4 f6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.