Starting position #106
Back-rank setup: QNRNBBKR
SP-106 · 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 c1 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.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 853.
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 51 Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 485 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): +32 → +28 → +43 → +4
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #853
- The king starts on g, the rooks on c and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 525 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g5 (h4·12) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b4 (d5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to g3 — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to d4 (c5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: queen to e4 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Mate in 2: queen to h8 (c3) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: king to h3 (g2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 2: queen to g7 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: queen to h6 (e3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Chess960 tactic on h4 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 117
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Commentary
Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup gives nothing away on move one. The queen is in the corner on a1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the king on g1. Short castling therefore moves only the rook. The bishops on e1 and f1 open onto a5, h4, a6 and h3. The main line of the run opens d4 d5, then h4 h5 Rh3 Nd7 — the rook lifts along the third rank before the pieces come out.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.