Starting position #362
Back-rank setup: NRKRBBQN
SP-362 · 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 d1, the queen on g1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-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 309.
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 21 Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 757 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): +34 → +31 → +13 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #309
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and d
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1345 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: king to c2 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to a8 (a7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to d7 (e8) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to c6 (a5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: rook to e6 (e3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to a8 (a7·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to e1 (b1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d7 (f5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to d8 (e8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on d3 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 72
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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 sit together on e1 and f1, the queen on g1. Among the pawns, a2 is the one that begins without a defender. The engine takes the centre with e4, and the centre opens at once: e4 Nb6 Nb3 d5 exd5 Nxd5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.