Starting position #124
Back-rank setup: NBQRNKBR
SP-124 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
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 d1 and h1, the queen on c1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from f1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 844.
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 75 Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 250 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): +21 → +5 → +13 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #844
- The king starts on f, the rooks on d and h
- It becomes the daily position in 156 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to d7 (d1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4·28) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c5 (d4·37) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f4 (e3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to g2 (f1·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: queen to f7 (f4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: knight to b5 (d6·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1420
- Mate in 3: queen to b7 (f3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: pawn to b6 (c5·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: bishop to g6 (f5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 2100
This position appears in course day 79
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Commentary
The rook already stands on d1, so long castling moves the king alone from f1. A knight begins in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move. The bishops occupy b1 and g1 at opposite ends of the rank, reaching h7 and a7. Among the pawns, e2 is defended by the king alone. The main line of the run opens d4 d5, then f3 Nb6 Bf2 f6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.