Starting position #392
Back-rank setup: QBRNBNKR
SP-392 · 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 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 e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 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 765.
The engine's main line opens with Nde3, bringing the knight out to e3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 34 Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 639 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): +43 → +60 → +125 → +176
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #765
- 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 6 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: queen to e5 (a1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c4 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to f2 (g1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: king to c2 (d2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e3 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to f8 (e7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 2: queen to e8 (e4·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1670
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c6 (c2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Chess960 tactic on g5 — Chess960 specifics · 2120
- Chess960 tactic on b8 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 41
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Commentary
Both knights can reach e3 on move one, so the engine's first move needs a letter to say which: Nde3, the one from d1. The line runs Nde3 b6 b4 f6 d4 c5. The king begins on g1, already on the square short castling would give him, so that castling moves the rook alone. On the second rank, e2 has no defender, and g2 leans on the king alone. The queen starts in the far corner on a1, the bishops on b1 and e1.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.