Starting position #382
Back-rank setup: NRKRNBBQ
SP-382 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
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 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 292.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 43 Morozov Balance Index: 43 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +28 centipawns for White (depth 41, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 551 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): +39 → +15 → +15 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #292
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and d
- 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
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e4 (h1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to b3 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to d7 (h3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to c8 (c6) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g4 (g3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Castling-960 to the rescue on b1 (c1·2) — Castling-960 · 1340
- Castling-960 to the rescue on d8 (c8·2) — Castling-960 · 1470
- Mate in 3: rook to a8 (a1) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to e7 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
- Mate in 3: rook to c5 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 2210
This position appears in course day 100
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Commentary
The corner knight on a1 has exactly one move to begin with, b3 — but the engine's line frees a different square for it: after c3 f6 b3 c6 it goes Nac2, and Black mirrors with Nac7. 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 in the corner on h1. The second knight is on e1. Among the pawns, a2 is the one that begins without a defender.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.