Starting position #881
Back-rank setup: BRQBKRNN
SP-881 · ThroneScout — King in the middle of the rank, with a knight already committed to the corner.
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on e1, 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 e1 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 3 pawns with no defender at all: a2, g2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 75.
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 59 Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 383 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): +41 → +33 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #75
- The king starts on e, the rooks on b 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 f1 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to d7 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to g1 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to h5 (g3·16) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b4 (c4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e7 (g6) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Mate in 2: queen to f7 (f4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b5 (c4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: pawn to f6 (e5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on g7 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 44
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Commentary
A bishop holds the corner on a1 with one diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1. Three pawns begin without a defender: a2, g2 and h2. The king is on e1 and the queen on c1; the rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone. The knights are on g1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move, and the second rook is on b1. White's edge is +24 centipawns, and the published line is a mirrored rampage — two pawn moves open both long diagonals, and each corner bishop then captures twice, ending in the far corner: b4 b5 Bxg7 Bxg2 Bxh8 Bxh1.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.