Starting position #787
Back-rank setup: BRQKNRNB
SP-787 · ThroneGuard — A central king (d or e) and two knights tucked onto inner files: the family that holds the standard array, SP-518.
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 b1 and f1, the queen on c1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from d1 to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 163.
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 75 Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 225 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): +26 → +13 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #163
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and f
- It becomes the daily position in 72 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b5 (c4·26) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to f1 (e1·12) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: pawn to d7 (c6·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: knight to b6 (d5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e4 (d3·59) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to f3 (e5) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 2: queen to d6 (a3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: bishop to b6 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: rook to e6 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to g5 (c1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
This position appears in course day 138
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Commentary
Both bishops start in the corners, on a1 and h1, each with a single long diagonal — one to h8, the other to a8. The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from d1; the queen stands beside him on c1. Two pawns begin without a defender, a2 and h2 — the edges of the rank. The knights are on e1 and g1 — both can reach f3, so the fifth half-move carries a letter. White's edge is +19 centipawns: b4 b5 d3 d6 Ngf3 Ngf6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.