Starting position #321
Back-rank setup: BNRBQKRN
SP-321 · BastionScout — Off-centre king plus a rim knight (a/h): 168 positions carry this shape.
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 c1 and g1, the queen on e1.
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: a2, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 347.
The engine's main line opens with Ng3, bringing the knight out to g3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 47 Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 513 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +28 → +74 → +69 → +46
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #347
- The king starts on f, the rooks on c 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: pawn to d5 (c4·32) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (c4·58) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f5 (f1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (a1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to h5 (e2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: bishop to h5 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: rook to f4 (f1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Mate in 3: rook to b7 (b1) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c8 (c4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on d4 — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 21
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
The cornered knight on h1 has g3 as its only move, and the engine plays it first: Ng3 e6 f4 f5 e4 fxe4. Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1. The queen is on e1, right beside her king. A bishop is closed into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1. The pawns on a2 and h2 both begin with no defender at all.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.