Starting position #107
Back-rank setup: QNRNBKRB
SP-107 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on a1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 849.
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 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 645 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +49 → +35 → +15 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #849
- The king starts on f, the rooks on c and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 498 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4·32) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to f7 (e7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: bishop to d7 (c6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d7 (d6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 2: queen to h7 (b1) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 (g5·13) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: pawn to e6 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: rook to a8 (e8) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f5 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: rook to g7 (g1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 140
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Commentary
Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1. The queen begins in the corner on a1, a bishop in the corner on h1 whose only diagonal runs to a8. Among the pawns, h2 starts with no defender at all, and e2 has only the king. The second bishop is on e1, the knights on b1 and d1. The engine's line opens d4 d5, then Ne3 g6 Nxd5 c6 — the knight takes a pawn on the fifth half-move.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.