Starting position #871
Back-rank setup: QRBKRNNB
SP-871 · 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 e1, the queen on a1.
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 h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 82.
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 43 Morozov Balance Index: 43 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +28 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 534 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): +39 → +18 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #82
- The king starts on d, the rooks on b and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 366 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f7 (g5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g4 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to e4 (d3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to c5 (a3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to f6 (e8) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h8 (f6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: bishop to e6 (d5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to d8 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: rook to b6 (b1) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b1 (a2) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 14
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Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on b1 and e1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. The pawn on f2 begins without a defender, and the pawn on c2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the knights on f1 and g1 — their reaches do not overlap, so the line writes Ne3 with no file letter. White's edge is +28 centipawns: b4 b5 a4 a6 Ne3 Bb7.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.