Starting position #271
Back-rank setup: NRKNQRBB
SP-271 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
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 f1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
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 592.
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 10 Morozov Balance Index: 10 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +43 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 872 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): +45 → +27 → +17 → +16
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #592
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 54 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to a5 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d5 (e3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to a5 (e1) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to d1 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: rook to b2 (b5) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: queen to a4 (a6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e6 (d5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 2: queen to b8 (g8) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: queen to a8 (a7·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on c5 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 56
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Commentary
Both castlings are half-moves here: the king already stands on c1 for the long one, and the rook already occupies f1 for the short. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on g1. The knights are on a1 and d1, the corner one with a single move, b3. Among the pawns, a2 begins without a defender. The queen is on e1, and the engine's line runs f4 f5 b3 b6 g3 d5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.