Starting position #740
Back-rank setup: RBBKNNQR
SP-740 · 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 a1 and h1, the queen on g1.
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 c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-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 414.
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 51 Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 459 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): +39 → +33 → +5 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #414
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 27 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: queen to f3 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to h6 (g5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f4 (d3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f4 (e3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to b7 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Mate in 2: queen to e8 (e6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (a8·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to a4 (a1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Castling-960 to the rescue on a8 (d8·5) — Castling-960 · 1340
- Mate in 3: queen to e7 (e5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1990
This position appears in course day 81
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. The bishops stand side by side on b1 and c1, one on each colour. On the second rank, e2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on g1, the knights side by side on e1 and f1. The search ran to depth 49 and calls it +26 centipawns: d4 d5 f3 f6 c3 c6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.