Starting position #350
Back-rank setup: NRKQRBBN
SP-350 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
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 e1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 324.
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 72 Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 268 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +52 → -21 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #324
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 451 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c5 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to h4 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to b3 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to a6 (b4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to g7 (f5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: king to c2 (b1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Mate in 3: knight to e4 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a6 (a5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to d5 (f3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Winning blow: queen to e6 (g4·8) — Chess960 specifics · 2380
This position appears in course day 50
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1, and the queen begins on d1 beside her king. Both knights start in a corner, a1 and h1, each with a single move: b3 and g3. The bishops sit together on f1 and g1. Among the pawns, a2 is the one that begins without a defender. The engine takes the centre with e4 and keeps the edge small, +20 centipawns: e4 f6 c4 c5 f3 e5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.