Starting position #287
Back-rank setup: NRKNRQBB
SP-287 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
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 f1.
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 576.
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 97 Morozov Balance Index: 97 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +7 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 28 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band E — even · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (55 half-moves): +17 → +3 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 56): +8 cp, +1 cp against the base run — verified
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #576
- 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 1046 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f8 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Winning blow: pawn to f4 (g3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e1 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to g2 (h1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to a8 (a7·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to d8 (d1·13) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to a6 (c5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to h7 (h8·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: knight to a5 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to d8 (f8·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 9
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Commentary
The bishop on g1 looks down the long diagonal to a7, and the pawn on a2 begins with no defender — the engine's line collects both. After f4 f5 comes Bxa7 Bxa2, a pawn each, and then g3 g6. The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. The second bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8. The knights are on a1 and d1. Among the pawns, d2 leans on the king alone.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.