Starting position #329
Back-rank setup: NRQBBKRN
SP-329 · BastionScout — King shifted to c or f, with a knight committed to the corner from move one.
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 c1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-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 345.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 75 Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 241 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +27 → +28 → +25 → +7
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #345
- 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 97 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to h3 (g2·13) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d3 (e2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to f3 (g2·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g7 (h5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e7 (e6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to b8 (b1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 2: queen to f7 (e6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Mate in 3: pawn to g7 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: rook to b7 (b5) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on b6 (f2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 36
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Commentary
Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1. Both knights start in a corner, a1 and h1, each with a single move: b3 and g3. The bishops stand side by side on d1 and e1, the queen on c1. The pawns on a2 and h2 both begin with no defender at all. The engine takes the centre with e4 and keeps the edge small, +19 centipawns: e4 b5 d3 c5 c4 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.