Starting position #442
Back-rank setup: RNNQBBKR
SP-442 · RampartGuard — Both knights begin on inner files while the king sits on the wing (b/g); mirror twins stay together in this family.
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 e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-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 709.
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 94 Morozov Balance Index: 94 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +10 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 56 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band E — even · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (70 half-moves): +27 → +15 → +1 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 51): +8 cp, -2 cp against the base run — verified
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #709
- 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: queen to d4 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to g5 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to e4 (e2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to g5 (c1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: pawn to e7 (e6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: bishop to d3 (e2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: king to h2 (g1·33) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 3: knight to e6 (g5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to h6 (h1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: rook to h7 (e7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2290
This position appears in course day 96
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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 together on e1 and f1. Among the pawns, b2 is the one that begins without a defender. The rooks sit in the corners, a1 and h1, the queen on d1. The engine keeps the edge small, +10 centipawns: c4 c5 e3 e6 d4 cxd4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.