Starting position #18
Back-rank setup: BNQNRBKR
SP-18 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
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 e1 and h1, the queen on c1.
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 935.
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 3 Morozov Balance Index: 3 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +52 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 935 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +46 → +11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #935
- The king starts on g, the rooks on e and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e7 (f5·10) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to d3 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: knight to e7 (f5·18) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to f2 (c2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Winning blow: queen to e7 (g5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: pawn to e5 (f4·23) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to h8 (h5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to d8 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e5 (e1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1650
- Chess960 tactic on f5 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 183
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Commentary
A bishop is locked into the corner on a1 and needs the b-pawn to move before its diagonal to h8 opens. The king starts on g1, so short castling shifts only the h1 rook to f1. The queen is on c1, the knights on b1 and d1, the second bishop on f1. The pawn on a2 starts without a defender. The engine's main line opens d4, and the play spreads quickly: b6 e4 e5 d5 f5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.