Starting position #146
Back-rank setup: BNRNQBKR
SP-146 · 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 c1 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.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 807.
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 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 793 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): +41 → +66 → +23 → +8
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #807
- The king starts on g, the rooks on c and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 684 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to g2 (g1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to c1 (e1) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to c2 (d3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: bishop to h7 (g6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b7 (b1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to e4 (c4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Winning blow: pawn to g4 (g3·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: knight to h6 (f5) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: bishop to g6 (f5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Winning blow: rook to g6 (g2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2380
This position appears in course day 162
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Commentary
The corner bishop on a1 has one diagonal, to h8, and the b-pawn to open it; the second bishop is on f1. The king is already on g1, so short castling moves the rook alone. The queen is on e1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the knights on b1 and d1. On the second rank, a2 starts with no defender at all. The recorded line opens d4 d5, then h4 b6 Nd2 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.