Starting position #19
Back-rank setup: BNQNRKRB
SP-19 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight 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 e1 and g1, the queen on c1.
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 a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 931.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 37 Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 617 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): +34 → -7 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #931
- The king starts on f, the rooks on e and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 244 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a3 (c1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h1 (g1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to c7 — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to g7 (h7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b4 (b1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Winning blow: pawn to e6 (e5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Castling-960 to the rescue on g1 (f1·7) — Castling-960 · 1340
- Mate in 3: queen to h6 (h7) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Mate in 3: queen to h6 (c1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1820
- Winning blow: queen to h6 (c1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 52
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Commentary
Both corners hold a bishop — a1 on the dark squares and h1 on the light ones — and each has exactly one diagonal, opened by the b-pawn and the g-pawn and running to h8 and a8. Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1. The queen stands on c1, the knights on b1 and d1. The pawns on a2 and h2 begin with no defender. The published line opens g3 g6, then d3 d6, and both sides castle: O-O O-O.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.