Starting position #141
Back-rank setup: NRQBNKBR
SP-141 · BastionScout — Off-centre king plus a rim knight (a/h): 168 positions carry this shape.
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 b1 and h1, the queen on c1.
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.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 824.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 47 Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 523 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): +31 → +21 → +19 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #824
- The king starts on f, the rooks on b and h
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f4 (e3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c5 (f2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d6 (c5·19) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to a5 (b3·16) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b4 (d3·10) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to d4 (b3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to g4 (h3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to e2 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: knight to h6 (g4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Winning blow: queen to f8 (a3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1750
This position appears in course day 50
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Commentary
The rooks start on b1 and h1, and castling is ordinary in both directions from f1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3. On the second rank, a2 begins with no defender at all. The queen stands on c1, the bishops on d1 and g1. The line in the dataset opens f4 c5, then c4 f5 b4 b6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.