Starting position #282
Back-rank setup: NRKNBBRQ
SP-282 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
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 g1, the queen on h1.
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 581.
The engine's main line opens with Nb3, bringing the knight out to b3.
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 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 674 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): +40 → +19 → +20 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #581
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- 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 a3 (b2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b4 (e1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4·91) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (d1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to c5 (b7·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to a8 (a7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to f6 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: rook to b8 (b1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b5 (c3·21) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Chess960 tactic on d7 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 63
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Commentary
The engine opens with the corner knight's only move, Nb3, and both sides end up castling long: Nb3 g5 Nc3 Nc6 O-O-O O-O-O. The king already stands on c1, so that castling moves the rook alone from b1. The knights are on a1 and d1, the queen in the corner on h1. The bishops sit together on e1 and f1. 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.