Starting position #386
Back-rank setup: BQRNNBKR
SP-386 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on g1, the rooks on c1 and h1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 759.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 89 Morozov Balance Index: 89 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +14 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 110 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (70 half-moves): +19 → 0 → -1 → 0 → -4
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 50): +7 cp, -7 cp against the base run — verified · E — even
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #759
- The king starts on g, the rooks on c and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 696 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h4 (h1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to e6 (g6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to h2 (g1·21) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: king to h2 (g3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e7 (d6·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: pawn to d5 (c4·15) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: pawn to h5 (h4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1470
- Mate in 3: knight to f5 (e3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: rook to g3 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
- Chess960 tactic on f5 (e5) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 165
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Commentary
The king begins on g1, already on the square short castling would give him, so that castling moves the rook alone. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on f1. Among the pawns, d2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on b1, the knights on d1 and e1, the rooks on c1 and h1. The engine keeps the edge small, +14 centipawns: b4 b5 e3 h5 h4 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.