Starting position #410
Back-rank setup: RQNNBBKR
SP-410 · 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 a1 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.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 741.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 95 Morozov Balance Index: 95 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +9 centipawns for White (depth 49, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 46 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band E — even · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (70 half-moves): +25 → -23 → 0 → 0 → -7
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 55): +12 cp, +3 cp against the base run — verified · S — slight edge
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #741
- The king starts on g, the rooks on a and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1263 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b5 (e2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e4 (b1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to e3 (g5) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to d8 (d2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b5 (f1·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f2 (e2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Mate in 3: rook to e7 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g5 (c1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f5 (b1·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Winning blow: queen to f7 (a7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 93
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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. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The rooks sit in the corners, a1 and h1, the queen on b1. The bishops sit together on e1 and f1, the knights on c1 and d1. The engine finds very little here: +9 centipawns after a search to depth 49 — e4 e5 h4 h5 Ne3 Ne6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.