Starting position #441
Back-rank setup: RNNBBQKR
SP-441 · RampartGuard — King pushed to the b- or g-file, knights off the edges — 144 positions here.
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 f1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 713.
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 43 Morozov Balance Index: 43 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +28 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 550 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 → +9 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #713
- 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 h5 (d1·17) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d4 (c3·36) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b4 (a3·22) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to e8 (e1·13) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: bishop to e3 (d2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Mate in 2: rook to g7 (c7) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to f5 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to e6 (h6) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: knight to e7 (d5·23) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on h8 (d8) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 204
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Commentary
The king starts on g1, already on the square short castling would give him, so that castling moves the rook alone. The knights stand side by side on b1 and c1, the bishops on d1 and e1. Among the pawns, b2 is the one that begins without a defender. The rooks sit in the corners, a1 and h1, the queen on f1 beside her king. The engine takes the centre with d4 and both sides mirror: d4 d5 e3 e6 c4 c5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.