Starting position #785
Back-rank setup: BRQBKNRN
SP-785 · 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 b1 and g1, 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.
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: a2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 171.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 6 Morozov Balance Index: 6 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +48 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 904 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +42 → +41 → +19 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #171
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b and g
- It becomes the daily position in 789 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: bishop to g7 (a1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c4 (b3·27) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f7 (c4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 850
- Winning blow: knight to f4 (h5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to e4 (g3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e7 (e6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 2: queen to h4 (h3) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Mate in 3: rook to f8 (d8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to g7 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Chess960 tactic on c1 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 45
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from e1, with the rooks on b1 and g1. A bishop holds the corner on a1 with one diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1, running to a4 on one side and h5 on the other. Among the pawns, a2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on c1, the knights on f1 and h1 — both can reach g3, so the third half-move carries a letter. White's edge here is a wide one, +48 centipawns: b4 Nhg6 Nhg3 b6 e4 e5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.