Starting position #50
Back-rank setup: BNNRQBKR
SP-50 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-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 g1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
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: c2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 903.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 37 Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 616 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +51 → +22 → +16 → +5
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #903
- The king starts on g, the rooks on d and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 999 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: knight to e8 (c7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e8 (e7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to c2 (b1) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to e7 (f5·25) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: queen to c2 (d2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1420
- Mate in 2: queen to g5 (f5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Winning blow: bishop to f6 (b2·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Winning blow: rook to g6 (f6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1930
- Chess960 tactic on f7 (f3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 126
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Commentary
Two castling shortcuts meet here: the king already stands on g1 for the short one, and the rook already stands on d1 for the long one. The corner bishop on a1 opens to h8 once the b-pawn moves; the bishop on f1 opens onto a6 and h3. The queen is on e1, the knights on b1 and c1. On the second rank, c2 begins with no defender. The recorded line opens e4 e5, then h4 h5 Nc3 Nc6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.