Starting position #304
Back-rank setup: BBNQRKRN
SP-304 · 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 f1, the rooks on e1 and g1, the queen on d1.
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.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 367.
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 40 Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 581 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): +25 → +16 → +11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #367
- The king starts on f, the rooks on e 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: knight to h7 (g5·8) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e4 (e1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to d8 (d1·12) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to d4 (a1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to d7 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: bishop to d3 (b1) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: rook to d8 (c8) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Winning blow: rook to g8 (g1·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1650
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d6 (e5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on c7 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 14
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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 shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second works the light squares from b1. The queen is on d1, and the pawn on h2 is the only one starting without a defender. The main line of the run opens c4 c5, then f4 O-O e3 b5, Black castling on the fourth half-move.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.