Starting position #804
Back-rank setup: RBBKQNRN
SP-804 · ThroneScout — King on a central file (d/e) with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
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 g1, the queen on e1.
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.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 158.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 37 Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 594 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): +35 → +14 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #158
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and g
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e4 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f4 (c1·22) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f5 (d3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f3 (f2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: queen to c6 (b5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: pawn to e6 (e5·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: queen to g8 (d8) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g7 (f5·28) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Mate in 3: queen to b6 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Winning blow: rook to e6 (e1·26) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 141
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 with the queen on e1, just to his right, and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on a1 and g1. The bishops stand side by side on b1 and c1, one on each colour. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The knights are on f1 and h1 — both can reach g3, so the third half-move carries a letter. The engine takes the centre with e4: e4 c5 Nhg3 Nhg6 a4 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.