Starting position #704
Back-rank setup: BBRKQNNR
SP-704 · 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 e1.
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: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 447.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 43 Morozov Balance Index: 43 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +28 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 538 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): +56 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #447
- 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 992 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to h8 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a6 (e2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h5 (h4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to h1 (g1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Mate in 2: knight to d6 (f5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: queen to e5 (e3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to c8 (c3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: rook to e1 (h1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to c3 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c8 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 19
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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 works the light squares from b1. Among the pawns, g2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on e1 beside her king, the knights side by side on f1 and g1. The recorded line opens b3 b6, then Nf3 Nf6 d4 c5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.