Starting position #883
Back-rank setup: BRQKRNNB
SP-883 · 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 c1.
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 a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, f2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 67.
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 13 Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 831 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +50 → +38 → +14 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #67
- 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 1219 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f6 (h8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b8 (b1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to e4 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Mate in 2: king to d1 — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: bishop to d7 (g4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f1 (d1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: queen to a8 (a1) — Chess960 specifics · 1470
- Mate in 3: pawn to g5 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g4 (e3·16) — Chess960 specifics · 1840
- Chess960 tactic on d6 (c7) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 19
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Commentary
Both bishops start in the corners, on a1 and h1, each with a single long diagonal — one to h8, the other to a8. The king begins on d1 with the queen beside him on c1, and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on b1 and e1. Two pawns begin without a defender, a2 and f2. The knights are on f1 and g1, standing shoulder to shoulder. White's edge here is a wide one, +41 centipawns: b4 d6 g3 Nf6 d3 b5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.