Starting position #10
Back-rank setup: QNNRBBKR
SP-10 · RampartGuard — Both knights begin on inner files while the king sits on the wing (b/g); mirror twins stay together in this family.
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on g1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: c2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 949.
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 31 Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 681 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: sharpening
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +35 → +33 → +38 → +34
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #949
- The king starts on g, the rooks on d and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 130 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b6 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e5 (d3·14) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to d5 (c3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c1 (d1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to h6 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: queen to e8 (h5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to g6 (g7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to h8 (c8·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: queen to g6 (g4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e8 (c6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 9
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Commentary
Both castling moves are unusual here. Short castling moves only the rook, because the king already stands on g1; long castling moves only the king, because the rook already stands on d1. The queen begins in the corner on a1, with the knights on b1 and c1 beside her. The bishops on e1 and f1 open onto a5, h4, a6 and h3 as the d-, f-, e- and g-pawns step aside. Among the pawns, c2 starts without a defender. The main line of the run opens c4 c5, then Nb3 e6 d4 cxd4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.