Starting position #4
Back-rank setup: QBBNNRKR
SP-4 · 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 f1 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 958.
The engine's main line opens with h4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 796 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): +36 → +4 → -14 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #958
- The king starts on g, the rooks on f and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1068 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: rook to g1 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g5 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to h3 (f5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to e2 (d3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e3 (d1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h2 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g7 (a1·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g7 (c3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: rook to g1 (d1) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on g5 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 43
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Commentary
The queen begins in the corner on a1, as far from the centre as a piece can start, with the two bishops beside her on b1 and c1. The king is already on g1, so short castling moves only the rook, from h1 to f1. The bishop on b1 opens along the a-pawn and the c-pawn, its longer diagonal ending on h7; the one on c1 uses the b-pawn and the d-pawn, reaching h6. The knights hold the centre files from d1 and e1. Among the pawns, e2 starts with no defender. The main line of the run opens h4 h5, then d4 d5 b3 b5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.