Starting position #366
Back-rank setup: NRKRQBBN
SP-366 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
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 e1.
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 308.
The engine's main line opens with Nb3, bringing the knight out to b3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 789 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +47 → +15 → +4 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #308
- 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 1143 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: king to b2 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to c5 (b3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e8 (b5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to c3 (b4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to d7 (d2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d6 (c5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 2: queen to a8 (a5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: queen to g7 (g3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: bishop to e7 (b4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1650
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (d1·25) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 54
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
The engine opens with the corner knight's only move, Nb3, and then sends the other one on a journey: Nb3 f5 Ng3 f4 Ne4 e5. The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. The bishops sit together on f1 and g1, the queen on e1. Among the pawns, a2 is the one that begins without a defender. The rooks are on b1 and d1.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.