Starting position #266
Back-rank setup: NRKNBBQR
SP-266 · 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 g1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-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 597.
The engine's main line opens with Nc3, bringing the knight out to c3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 57 Morozov Balance Index: 57 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 411 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- In 50 self-play games White scored 53.0% (95% CI 39.5–66.1%).
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +45 → +41 → +33 → +20
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #597
- 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 200 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b8 (a7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c6 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e7 (d5·11) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to b2 (c1·23) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (e5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c4 (f1·17) — Chess960 specifics · 1420
- Winning blow: pawn to e6 (d5·22) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: rook to e1 (h1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: pawn to f8 (f7·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Mate in 3: pawn to e6 (e5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2170
This position appears in course day 10
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Commentary
Here the engine begins with a knight move rather than a pawn: the line runs Nc3 e5 f4 exf4 g3 f5. That knight starts on d1, the other in the corner on a1 with b3 as its only move. The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. The bishops are on e1 and f1, the queen on g1. Among the pawns, a2 is the one that begins without a defender.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.