Starting position #2
Back-rank setup: BQNNRBKR
SP-2 · 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 e1 and h1, the queen on b1.
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: d2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 951.
The engine's main line opens with h4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 61 Morozov Balance Index: 61 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +23 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 380 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: sharpening
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +39 → +27 → +22 → +21
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #951
- The king starts on g, the rooks on e and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1217 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e8 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d7 (c6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to c4 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Mate in 2: pawn to g8 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d7 (d6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 2: queen to h5 (g5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Winning blow: queen to b5 (f5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Winning blow: bishop to g6 (f5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Mate in 3: pawn to e5 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
- Chess960 tactic on g4 (h5) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 83
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Commentary
Both rooks stand apart, on e1 and h1, with the king between them on g1 — already on its short-castling square, so that move here belongs to the rook alone. The corner bishop on a1 has one diagonal and the b-pawn to unlock it, reaching h8 when it opens. The light-square bishop on f1 has two, opened by the e-pawn and the g-pawn, ending on a6 and h3. The knights on c1 and d1 sit side by side, covering b3, d3, c3 and e3 between them. On the second rank, d2 begins with no defender. The engine opens h4 h5, then turns to the centre with d4 d5 c4 dxc4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.