Starting position #5
Back-rank setup: QNBBNRKR
SP-5 · RampartGuard — A wing king (b/g) with no knight on the a- or h-file.
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 f1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 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 954.
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 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 557 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): +29 → +62 → +34 → +5
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #954
- The king starts on g, the rooks on f and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 51 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a5 (e5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to e6 (g5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to f2 (h2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: bishop to f2 (e3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Winning blow: rook to g7 (g5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Castling-960 to the rescue on h1 (g1·7) — Castling-960 · 1340
- Mate in 3: queen to e8 (h5) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h8 (h1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Winning blow: bishop to c3 (d2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Chess960 tactic on f6 (c3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 30
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Commentary
The queen starts in the corner on a1, the furthest square from the centre a piece can occupy. The king is already on g1, so short castling here moves the rook alone, from h1 to f1. The bishops stand together on c1 and d1, one on each colour, their long diagonals ending on h6 and h5 once the d-pawn and the e-pawn step aside. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — a setup that gives away nothing at the start. The knight on b1 has a3 and c3 to choose from, the one on e1 has d3 and f3. The engine's line opens d4, and after d6 the knights come out with Nd2 Nd7 before e4 and b5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.