Starting position #388
Back-rank setup: QBBRNNKR
SP-388 · RampartGuard — Both knights begin on inner files while the king sits on the wing (b/g); mirror twins stay together in this family.
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 d1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on b1 and c1; their long diagonals reach h7 and h6 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: e2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 766.
The engine's main line opens with d4, 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 28 Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 691 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): +37 → +40 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #766
- The king starts on g, the rooks on d and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 395 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b2 (a1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f7 (a2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 850
- Winning blow: queen to f7 (e8) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to g6 (g5) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4·109) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g7 (a1·15) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c5 (c4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Winning blow: bishop to e4 (d3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Winning blow: queen to e6 (e7·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1890
- Chess960 tactic on e8 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 42
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Commentary
The king begins on g1, already on the square short castling would give him; the long one moves him alone, because the rook already stands on d1. The queen starts in the far corner on a1. The bishops stand side by side on b1 and c1, one on each colour. Among the pawns, e2 has no defender, and f2 leans on the king alone. The engine takes the centre with d4, then races the h-pawn: d4 d5 h4 b6 h5 h6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.