Starting position #289
Back-rank setup: BQNBRKRN
SP-289 · 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 f1, the rooks on e1 and g1, the queen on b1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: d2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 379.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
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 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 871 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +46 → +57 → +66 → +19
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #379
- The king starts on f, the rooks on e and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 495 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f5 — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e4 (e1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d7 (c5·8) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to g1 (h2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Mate in 2: queen to f5 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: queen to f6 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: knight to f6 (e4·25) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Winning blow: queen to h6 (g6·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Mate in 3: queen to d7 (d1) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
- Winning blow: rook to f8 (f2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 1
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Commentary
Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1. A knight sits in the corner on h1 with g3 as its only move, the second on c1. A bishop is closed into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1. Two pawns begin with no defender at all: d2 and h2. The queen is on b1, and the engine's line runs c4 b6 Ng3 Ng6 b4 Nd6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.