Starting position #200
Back-rank setup: QBNRBKNR
SP-200 · BastionGuard — A c- or f-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 f1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from f1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 669.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 13 Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 841 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): +44 → +53 → +48 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #669
- The king starts on f, the rooks on d and h
- It becomes the daily position in 367 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f5 (d3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e6 (d5·21) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to g3 (g2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to h4 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: king to g1 (h2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: queen to e7 (c5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: bishop to c5 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: pawn to g6 (h5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Mate in 3: rook to f7 (f3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Chess960 tactic on h8 (h5) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 65
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Commentary
The rook already stands on d1, so long castling moves the king alone from f1. The queen is in the corner on a1, the bishops on b1 and e1. On the second rank, g2 is defended by the king alone. The knights hold c1 and g1, so one of them can jump to f3 or h3. The recorded line opens c4 c5, then b3 d6 e4 b5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.