Starting position #13
Back-rank setup: QNNBRKBR
SP-13 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight in a corner.
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 e1 and h1, the queen on a1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-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 BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 952.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 40 Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 587 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): +37 → +14 → +1 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #952
- The king starts on f, the rooks on e and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 218 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to h5 (d1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to h5 (d1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g6 (f5·11) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to g2 (f1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h8 (a1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: queen to d8 (d7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to g7 (h5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Castling-960 to the rescue on h1 (f1·5) — Castling-960 · 1340
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (d1·26) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Chess960 tactic on h8 — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 50
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Commentary
The queen starts on a1 in the corner and the king on f1, with castling running its normal course in both directions. The bishop on d1 opens along the c-pawn and the e-pawn; the one on g1 is unlocked by the f-pawn and the h-pawn, its longer line ending on a7. The knights stand together on b1 and c1. The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone. The published line opens e4 f6, then f4 Bf7 b3 O-O.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.