Starting position #378
Back-rank setup: NRKRBBNQ
SP-378 · 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 h1.
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 293.
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 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 756 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +46 → -17 → -26 → -16
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #293
- 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 176 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f4 (g3·15) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to h8 (c3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to g8 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to f6 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Mate in 2: bishop to g5 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: bishop to d2 (e1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Mate in 2: rook to f6 (g6) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: queen to e4 (e1) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d7 (h3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f4 (h4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 94
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. A knight is in the corner on a1 with a single move, b3; the second knight is on g1. The bishops sit together on e1 and f1, the queen in the corner on h1. Among the pawns, a2 begins without a defender. The engine takes the centre with e4 and the line runs e4 Nb6 Nb3 e5 g3 g6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.