Starting position #74
Back-rank setup: NNRKBBQR
SP-74 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one 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 g1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 885.
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 55 Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 445 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +44 → +22 → +8 → +2
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #885
- 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 145 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b7 (c5·9) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c4 (d3·17) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d4 (g1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to g3 (e2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to c2 (c1) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to c5 (b3·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c8 (c5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: bishop to b6 (a5) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to d8 (c8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on d6 (d1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 14
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
This is one of the setups where long castling swaps two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 change places. A knight begins in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move. The bishops on e1 and f1 stand together, one on each colour. The pawns on a2 and b2 start with no defender at all. The recorded line opens d4 Nb6, then f3 f5 Nb3 d5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.