Starting position #345
Back-rank setup: NRKBBQRN
SP-345 · 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 c1, the rooks on b1 and g1, the queen on f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
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 329.
The engine's main line opens with g4.
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 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 510 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): +28 → +7 → -14 → -5
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #329
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 219 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g1 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c4 (e2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f1 (g1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g5 (f4·30) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to d5 (e7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to a5 (b3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Mate in 2: queen to a7 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Castling-960 to the rescue on b1 (c1·8) — Castling-960 · 1480
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h8 (d4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on c6 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 39
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. 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 f1. The pawns on a2 and h2 both begin with no defender at all. The line in the dataset opens g4 g5, then e3 e6 Ng3 Nb6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.