Starting position #363
Back-rank setup: NRKRBQNB
SP-363 · 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 d1, the queen on f1.
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.
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 305.
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 75 Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 240 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 (60 half-moves): +30 → -31 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #305
- 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 1110 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c3 (b2·8) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f5 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to f8 (f3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g5 (g4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e5 (e3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to d7 (c5·18) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Castling-960 to the rescue on b1 (c1·7) — Castling-960 · 1470
- Mate in 3: knight to e6 (g5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to f4 (h4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Chess960 tactic on d6 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 86
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; the second knight is on g1. The pawns on a2 and h2 both begin with no defender at all. The engine's line runs f4 f5 d3 d6 Bd2 g6, with the queen on f1 still at home.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.