Starting position #876
Back-rank setup: QBRKRNBN
SP-876 · 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 c1 and e1, the queen on a1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 92.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 780 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 → +27 → +20 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #92
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 664 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e3 (g1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to d4 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: pawn to d6 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to d6 (b8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: bishop to f5 (g6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: bishop to f5 (d3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to c8 (c4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Winning blow: pawn to a4 (a3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Mate in 3: queen to g8 (b3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Chess960 tactic on c8 (c3) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 48
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Commentary
Long castling swaps the king on d1 with the rook on c1. The bishops are on b1 and g1, one on each colour. The pawn on g2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the knights on f1 and h1 — both can reach g3, so the third half-move carries a letter, and the second rook is on e1. White's edge is +38 centipawns, and the engine opens quietly with f3: f3 f6 Nhg3 c5 c4 a5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.