Starting position #932
Back-rank setup: RBBKRNQN
SP-932 · ThroneScout — The king starts on d or e while at least one knight begins in a 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 d1, the rooks on a1 and e1, the queen on g1.
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.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the ThroneScout family; read right to left it becomes position 30.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
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 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 620 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): +28 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #30
- The king starts on d, the rooks on a and e
- 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
- Winning blow: pawn to f5 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c5 (d4·13) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to h2 (f1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g4 (g1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to g6 (f6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: pawn to d6 (d5·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: bishop to a6 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to a7 (c7) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Chess960 tactic on g7 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
- Chess960 tactic on e7 (d7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 66
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
The king begins on d1 and castling is ordinary in both directions, with the rooks on a1 and e1. The bishops stand side by side on b1 and c1, one on each colour. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The queen is on g1, the knights on f1 and h1 — both can reach g3, so a knight move there has to name its file. The engine takes the centre with d4, and White's edge is +31 centipawns: d4 c6 e4 d5 c3 Bc7.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.