Starting position #286
Back-rank setup: NRKNRBBQ
SP-286 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
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 e1, 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 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 580.
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 86 Morozov Balance Index: 86 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +15 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 143 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (58 half-moves): +25 → +13 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 53): +19 cp, +4 cp against the base run — verified
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #580
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 577 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e8 — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to a4 (c3·11) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to h7 (d3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to b2 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to b3 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to e8 (h5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: pawn to g4 (g3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1470
- Mate in 2: rook to c6 (d6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1670
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f5 (h3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on c5 (a3) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 8
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Commentary
The engine's first move here is a knight, Nc3, and the line runs Nc3 f5 f4 Nc6 Nb3 Nb6 — four knight moves in six half-moves. 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 queen is in the corner on h1, the bishops together on f1 and g1. Among the pawns, a2 has no defender, and d2 leans on the king alone.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.