Starting position #151
Back-rank setup: NRBNQKRB
SP-151 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
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 g1, the queen on e1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 802.
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 69 Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 314 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +22 → +19 → +8 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #802
- The king starts on f, the rooks on b and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 850 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g4 (f3·10) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (f4·32) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b4 (d2·7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c5 (e3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h3 (g3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a7 (c5) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d2 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Mate in 3: pawn to e6 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: bishop to h5 (f3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1750
- Mate in 3: queen to g6 (g3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1990
This position appears in course day 31
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Commentary
Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move, a bishop in the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8. The pawns on a2 and h2 begin with no defender at all. The queen stands on e1 next to the king, the second bishop on c1. The published line opens f4 d6, then b4 Nb6 Nb3 e5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.