Starting position #116
Back-rank setup: NBBQRNKR
SP-116 · RampartScout — The king starts on b or g while a knight begins on the a- or h-file — the smallest 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 e1 and h1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on f2, g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 846.
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 72 Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 274 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +20 → +1 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #846
- The king starts on g, the rooks on e and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 162 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f6 (e5·12) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to e6 (e2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to e2 (e1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to g4 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: bishop to e6 (f5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Mate in 2: knight to f6 (h5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Mate in 3: queen to g5 (d2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to f6 (a1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: queen to f7 (f2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 2010
- Mate in 3: queen to g6 (g3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 2210
This position appears in course day 105
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Commentary
A knight begins in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move, while the second knight on f1 has e3 and g3. The king is already on g1, so short castling moves the rook alone. The bishops on b1 and c1 open onto h7 and h6. The pawns on f2 and g2 both have the king as their only defender. The recorded line opens d4 d5, then Nd2 c6 e4 dxe4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.