Starting position #90
Back-rank setup: NNRKBBRQ
SP-90 · 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 g1, the queen on h1.
Castling long simply swaps the two pieces: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 trade places.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, b2.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 869.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 34 Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 647 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 (54 half-moves): +29 → +12 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #869
- The king starts on d, the rooks on c and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 491 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b7 (a5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c5 (b3·11) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c4 (c1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to c5 (b3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b7 (c5·17) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: pawn to e6 (f5) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Mate in 3: rook to d1 (c1) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: knight to d6 (b7) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to d3 (g3) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Chess960 tactic on g6 (g5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 7
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Commentary
Long castling swaps two pieces here: the king on d1 and the rook on c1 change places. The queen begins in the corner on h1, a knight in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move. The bishops on e1 and f1 stand together, one on each colour. The pawns on a2 and b2 start with no defender at all. The engine's main line opens g4, and both sides castle long at once: O-O-O O-O-O, before d5 d4 Nb6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.