Starting position #121
Back-rank setup: NQRBBNKR
SP-121 · RampartScout — A wing-file king (b or g) and at least one corner knight: the rarest of the six families, just 72 positions.
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 b1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on 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 841.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 75 Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 251 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +31 → +8 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #841
- 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 403 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b6 (c5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to c6 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c7 (a5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to b4 (d2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to h8 (h1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: bishop to g5 (e3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to a5 (b3·24) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Mate in 3: queen to e8 (g6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to g7 (e7·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Chess960 tactic on g5 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 65
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Commentary
The rooks split wide, to c1 and h1, with the king on g1 between them, so short castling moves the rook alone. A knight is in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move, the second on f1 with e3 and g3. The queen stands on b1, the bishops on d1 and e1. The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone. The published line opens b4 d6, then d4 b5 Nb3 Nb6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.