Starting position #79
Back-rank setup: NNRKQRBB
SP-79 · ThroneScout — A central king (d or e), but with a knight posted out on the a- or h-file.
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 f1, the queen on e1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
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 880.
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 21 Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 762 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): +40 → +47 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #880
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- 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 b7 (c5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d5 (h1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c3 (e1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to c7 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to d8 (g8) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: queen to c5 (a5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 2: queen to b2 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Winning blow: king to d2 (c1·24) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Winning blow: rook to e3 (c3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1750
- Winning blow: queen to c7 (g3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2100
This position appears in course day 13
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Commentary
Both castling moves are unusual in this setup: the long one swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1, and the short one moves the king alone, because the rook already stands on f1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move, a bishop in the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8. The queen is on e1, immediately next to the king. The pawns on a2 and b2 begin with no defender at all. The published line opens f4 g6, then White castles long — O-O-O — and it closes f5 g3 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.