Starting position #140
Back-rank setup: NBRQNKBR
SP-140 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins 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 c1 and h1, the queen on d1.
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 b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 828.
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 92 Morozov Balance Index: 92 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +12 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 81 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 (70 half-moves): +37 → +16 → -10 → +8 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 51): +21 cp, +9 cp against the base run — verified
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #828
- The king starts on f, the rooks on c and h
- It becomes the daily position in 64 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (c4·21) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e3 (f2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 (d4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c5 (c1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to g4 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (a8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Mate in 2: queen to f7 (f5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: queen to e7 (d7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Mate in 3: queen to g4 (e4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b7 (c5·31) — Chess960 specifics · 2200
This position appears in course day 55
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from f1, with the rooks on c1 and h1. A knight begins in the corner on a1 and can only go to b3. The bishops occupy b1 and g1 at opposite ends of the rank. On the second rank, b2 begins with no defender. The recorded line opens d4 f6, then Nd3 c6 c4 d5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.