Starting position #413
Back-rank setup: RQNBNKBR
SP-413 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), no knight on the a- or h-file.
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on f1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on b1.
Castling ends where it always does: king to g1 and rook to f1 on the short side, king to c1 and rook to d1 on the long one.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 744.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 47 Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 509 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): +13 → -13 → +8 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #744
- The king starts on f, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 345 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: bishop to c8 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b6 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e4 (d3·22) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to e3 (g1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e6 (d5·37) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d3 (f4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to e6 (f8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 3: queen to e5 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: pawn to e6 (e5·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h5 (e2·7) — Chess960 specifics · 2340
This position appears in course day 23
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from f1, with the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. The bishops are on d1 and g1, the queen on b1. Among the pawns, d2 is the one that begins without a defender. The knights are on c1 and e1. The engine's line opens c3 c6, then d4 f6 h4 Bc7.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.