Starting position #422
Back-rank setup: RNBQNBKR
SP-422 · 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 d1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on f2 is defended by the king alone — the classic soft spot of the standard setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 726.
The engine's main line opens with c4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 83 Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 163 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (55 half-moves): +34 → +15 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #726
- The king starts on g, the rooks on a and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c4 (f1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d4 (f3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c7 (b7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to e7 (f5·13) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to h7 (d3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d5 (b3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Mate in 2: pawn to g5 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: rook to h3 (g3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: rook to f3 (h3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to d3 (f3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 44
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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. The rooks sit in the corners, a1 and h1, the queen on d1. The bishops are on c1 and f1, the knights on b1 and e1. On the second rank, f2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The recorded line opens c4 e5, then Nc3 g6 h4 Nf6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.