Starting position #164
Back-rank setup: NBBRNKQR
SP-164 · 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 d1 and h1, the queen on g1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from f1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on e2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 798.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 16 Morozov Balance Index: 16 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +39 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 811 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): +36 → +31 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #798
- The king starts on f, the rooks on d and h
- It becomes the daily position in 1044 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h5 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g4 (f3·15) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a2 (b1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e4 (c2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to g1 (h1) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: knight to e6 (g5·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: pawn to c7 (d6·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 3: queen to g4 (g3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: knight to g5 (e4·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on e7 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 1
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Commentary
The rook already stands on d1, so long castling moves the king alone from f1. A knight begins in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move. Among the pawns, e2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on g1 next to the king, the bishops on b1 and c1. The recorded line opens c3, a modest first move, and continues f6 d4 Qf7 f3 d5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.