Starting position #312
Back-rank setup: NBQRBKRN
SP-312 · 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 f1, the rooks on d1 and g1, the queen on c1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
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 365.
The engine's main line opens with d4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
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 579 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (40 half-moves): +55 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #365
- The king starts on f, the rooks on d and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 912 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c6 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f4 (c1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to d1 (c1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to d2 (e1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: pawn to b5 (c4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to g8 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to g7 (g6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: queen to f7 (f5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Winning blow: bishop to h4 (g3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: knight to f6 (d7·9) — Chess960 specifics · 2290
This position appears in course day 51
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Commentary
Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1; the long one moves the king alone, because the rook already stands on d1. Both knights start in a corner, a1 and h1, each with a single move: b3 and g3. The bishops are on b1 and e1, the queen on c1. The pawn on h2 has no defender, and e2 leans on the king alone. The engine takes the centre with d4 and both sides castle at once: d4 d5 O-O O-O c4 dxc4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.