Starting position #128
Back-rank setup: BBNRQNKR
SP-128 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
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 d1 and h1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
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 RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 831.
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 26 Morozov Balance Index: 26 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 716 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): +38 → -20 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #831
- The king starts on g, the rooks on d and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 79 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g4 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d3 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to g2 (g1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e7 (b4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to e1 (f1·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: bishop to f6 (a1·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: queen to b7 (a7·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1420
- Mate in 2: rook to h5 (e5) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (d1·24) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: bishop to f6 (d4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 2290
This position appears in course day 24
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Commentary
Short castling moves only the rook, because the king already stands on g1; long castling moves only the king, because the rook already stands on d1. A bishop is closed into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second works the light squares from b1. The queen is on e1, the knights on c1 and f1. On the second rank, g2 is defended by the king alone. The recorded line opens d4 d5, then b3 h5 c4 dxc4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.