Starting position #325
Back-rank setup: NRBBQKRN
SP-325 · 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 b1 and g1, the queen on e1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
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 346.
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 47 Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 512 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): +35 → +29 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #346
- The king starts on f, the rooks on b and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1141 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h4 (e1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b5 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g5 (d2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f5 (e4·59) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to g4 (d1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to g2 (g1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to f1 (b1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 3: knight to f4 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to d1 (f1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 27
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Commentary
Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1, and both sides use it in the engine's line: f4 f5 d3 O-O O-O Nb6. Both knights start in a corner, a1 and h1, each with a single move: b3 and g3. The bishops stand side by side on c1 and d1, the queen on e1 next to her king. The pawns on a2 and h2 both begin with no defender at all. The rooks are on b1 and g1.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.