Starting position #349
Back-rank setup: NRKBQRBN
SP-349 · 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 c1, the rooks on b1 and f1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, g2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 328.
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 4 Morozov Balance Index: 4 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +50 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 925 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +60 → +41 → +25 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #328
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 663 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f8 — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d6 (f5·8) — Chess960 specifics · 850
- Winning blow: queen to e8 (e1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to a2 (b1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to a4 (a1) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: bishop to c8 (g4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Winning blow: rook to f5 (g5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: queen to b5 (e5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Mate in 2: queen to d5 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to b8 (a7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
This position appears in course day 9
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Commentary
Both castlings are half-moves here: the king already stands on c1 for the long one, and the rook already occupies f1 for the short. Both knights start in a corner, a1 and h1, each with a single move: b3 and g3. The pawns on a2 and g2 both begin with no defender at all. The bishops are on d1 and g1, the queen on e1. White's edge here is a wide one, +50 centipawns, and the line runs f4 Nb6 Nb3 f5 Bd4 Bd5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.