Starting position #26
Back-rank setup: NQNRBBKR
SP-26 · RampartScout — The king starts on b or g while a knight begins on the a- or h-file — the smallest family.
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 d1 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.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 933.
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 21 Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 764 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +48 → +32 → +13 → +1
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #933
- The king starts on g, the rooks on d and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 295 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f4 (g3·33) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to c1 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: pawn to f3 (g2·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Mate in 2: rook to f7 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: knight to g6 (h4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to f2 (g1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to f5 (e6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to e6 (g8·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to h6 (c1) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Mate in 3: queen to h8 (h7·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
This position appears in course day 87
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Commentary
Both castling moves are short-handed here: the king already stands on g1 for the short one, and the rook already stands on d1 for the long one. The knight in the corner on a1 has b3 and nothing else; the second knight is on c1. The bishops on e1 and f1 open onto a5, h4, a6 and h3. Every second-rank pawn begins with a defender. The recorded line opens c4 c5, then Nc2 e5 e3 Nab6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.