Starting position #133
Back-rank setup: NRBBQNKR
SP-133 · 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 b1 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.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 826.
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 40 Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 583 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +17 → 0 → +4 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #826
- The king starts on g, the rooks on b and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 443 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e8 (e1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d4 (c3·21) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to d7 (e5·9) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to h6 (g5·17) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Mate in 2: queen to e8 (e1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: knight to e6 (g5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: queen to g7 (g4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to e7 (e1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to e8 (e1·25) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Mate in 3: queen to g6 (d6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1990
This position appears in course day 84
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Commentary
The rooks begin unusually close together, on b1 and h1, with the king on g1 outside them. A knight is in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move. The pawn on a2 begins with no defender at all, and g2 has only the king. The queen stands on e1, the bishops on c1 and d1. The published line opens d4 Nb6, then e4 e5 Nb3 Ng6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.