Starting position #254
Back-rank setup: NRKQNBBR
SP-254 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins 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 c1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 612.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 5 Morozov Balance Index: 5 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +49 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 918 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +32 → -3 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #612
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 10 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: queen to b5 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b3 (a2·12) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to h4 (f2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d1 (e2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to c5 (d3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Mate in 2: bishop to g6 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Mate in 2: queen to c6 (f3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: queen to d6 (c5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Mate in 3: pawn to h5 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on a6 (b5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 54
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
White's starting edge here is on the wider side, +49 centipawns at depth 47. The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; the second knight sits on e1. Among the pawns, a2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on d1 beside her king, and the main line runs f4 Nb6 Nf3 f5 Nb3 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.