Starting position #464
Back-rank setup: BBRNNKRQ
SP-464 · BastionGuard — A c- or f-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 f1, the rooks on c1 and g1, the queen on h1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 687.
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 55 Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 427 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 (60 half-moves): +31 → +16 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #687
- The king starts on f, the rooks on c and g
- 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 h8 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d4 (e3·15) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (c4·100) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to g4 (h4) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: bishop to f6 (a1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: bishop to c6 (e4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to e6 (g7·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 3: queen to f7 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to d7 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Mate in 3: queen to e4 (g6) — Chess960 specifics · 2170
This position appears in course day 9
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Commentary
Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second works the light squares from b1. On the second rank, d2 has no defender, and e2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on h1, the knights on d1 and e1. The recorded line opens c4 b6, then c5 bxc5 b3 h5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.