Starting position #426
Back-rank setup: RNQNBBKR
SP-426 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
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 c1.
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 725.
The engine's main line opens with d4, 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 26 Morozov Balance Index: 26 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 708 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): +33 → -7 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #725
- 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 283 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d6 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to f6 (h5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to d8 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: bishop to d2 (e1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: knight to g6 (f4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: bishop to b4 (a5) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: king to g2 (f1·18) — Chess960 specifics · 1470
- Winning blow: rook to h8 (f8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c8 (c4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on h6 — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 19
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
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 bishops sit together on e1 and f1, the knights on b1 and d1. The engine takes the centre with d4, and its queen recaptures on the fifth half-move: d4 d5 c4 dxc4 Qxc4 Nd7.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.