Starting position #232
Back-rank setup: NBRQBKNR
SP-232 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
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 c1 and h1, the queen on d1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 637.
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 31 Morozov Balance Index: 31 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 677 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): +37 → +30 → +20 → -9
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #637
- The king starts on f, the rooks on c and h
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d6 (c5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c1 (d1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e2 (e1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (d1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to g1 (f1·21) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d6 (b4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d3 (b1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e8 (b8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: knight to f3 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to c8 (c4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2290
This position appears in course day 20
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from f1, with the rooks on c1 and h1. A knight begins in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move, the second on g1. Among the pawns, b2 has no defender at all, and g2 only the king. The queen is on d1, the bishops on b1 and e1. The main line of the run opens d4 d5, then Nb3 b6 c4 dxc4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.