Starting position #77
Back-rank setup: NNRBKQBR
SP-77 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the 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 e1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on f1.
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 d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-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 888.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 34 Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 648 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): +30 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #888
- The king starts on e, the rooks on c and h
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to h5 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f8 (c5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to d2 (e1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b7 (b6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c4 (d2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to c1 (d1·13) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: bishop to g5 (h4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: bishop to e8 (c6) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 (d4·33) — Chess960 specifics · 1420
- Winning blow: rook to e7 (e3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 12
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
Castling is ordinary from e1, but the rooks begin far apart on c1 and h1. A knight starts in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move; the bishops are on d1 and g1. The pawns on a2 and b2 begin with no defender at all. The engine's line shows what that can mean: after f4 f5 both bishops take a rook's pawn — Bxa7 Bxa2 — before Nc3 Bc4. The queen stands on f1 next to the king, the second knight on b1.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.