Starting position #888
Back-rank setup: RBQKBRNN
SP-888 · 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 f1, the queen on c1.
The kingside rook already stands on f1, so castling short moves only the king, from d1 to g1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: g2, h2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 77.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 47 Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 496 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): +41 → +26 → +18 → +11
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #77
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and f
- It becomes the daily position in 716 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f4 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to d6 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c5 (d4·41) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to a4 (c2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to d2 (c1·13) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to c2 (c3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: bishop to d4 (e5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b6 (d4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d6 (d5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: bishop to d6 (b4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 21
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Commentary
The rook already occupies f1, so short castling moves the king alone from d1; the queen stands beside him on c1. The bishops are on b1 and e1, one on each colour. Two pawns begin without a defender, g2 and h2. The knights are on g1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move, and the second rook is on a1. The search ran to depth 49 and calls it +27 centipawns, in a line where each side moves the same knight twice, mirroring the other: c4 c5 Ng3 Ng6 Nh5 Nf4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.