Starting position #44
Back-rank setup: NBNQRKBR
SP-44 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
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 e1 and h1, the queen on d1.
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 b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 924.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
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 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 48 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band E — even · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (69 half-moves): +14 → +10 → 0 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 55): +15 cp, +6 cp against the base run — verified · S — slight edge
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #924
- The king starts on f, the rooks on e 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: pawn to c4 (b3·13) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g5 (e3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b2 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c4 (e3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f3 (d1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d7 (b8) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: knight to b4 (d3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Winning blow: queen to e4 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: queen to g6 (e6·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on g7 (g4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 61
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Commentary
Castling is ordinary in both directions from f1. The knight in the corner on a1 has one first move, b3; its partner on c1 has two. The bishops stand at opposite ends of the rank, b1 and g1, with longer diagonals to h7 and a7. On the second rank, b2 begins with no defender at all, and the pawn on g2 has only the king. The recorded line opens f3 c6, then c3 f6 Bf2 Bf7 — both bishops step back to the squares their kings vacate.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.