Starting position #696
Back-rank setup: RBQKBNNR
SP-696 · 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 a1 and h1, the queen on c1.
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 b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 461.
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 14 Morozov Balance Index: 14 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +40 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 821 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +50 → +65 → +86 → +91
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #461
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 943 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to d3 (e2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e3 (f2·9) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to c5 (d3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a5 (c3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: king to e1 (e2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: rook to a1 (f1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c8 (c2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: queen to h7 (d3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: rook to g8 (e8) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to b7 (h7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 111
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 with the queen beside him on c1, and castling is ordinary in both directions. The bishops are on b1 and e1, the knights side by side on f1 and g1. Among the pawns, g2 is the one that begins without a defender. The rooks sit in the corners, a1 and h1. White's edge here is a wide one, +40 centipawns, and the d-pawn goes two squares up: d4 c5 d5 c4 e4 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.