Starting position #351
Back-rank setup: NRKQRNBB
SP-351 · 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 e1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
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 320.
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 83 Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 168 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 (34 half-moves): +33 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #320
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: bishop to f5 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to a3 (b2·16) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to c6 (e5·11) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to c5 (f8) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: rook to e8 (e1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1410
- Winning blow: queen to a6 (a4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Mate in 3: queen to b5 (b1) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: pawn to c5 (c4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: pawn to a8 (b7) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 22
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. The queen begins on d1 beside her king. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on g1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; the second knight is on f1. Among the pawns, a2 begins without a defender, and the line runs f4 f5 a4 a6 Nb3 g5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.