Starting position #569
Back-rank setup: RNKBBNRQ
SP-569 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), 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 c1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on h1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 489.
The engine's main line opens with h4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 51 Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 468 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): +25 → +26 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #489
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and g
- It becomes the daily position in 80 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d4 (e3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (f4·39) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to b2 (c1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to c6 (c3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d7 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Mate in 2: bishop to c6 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Mate in 2: queen to c8 (c5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: queen to b6 (a6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: knight to d6 (b5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Winning blow: queen to g7 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 46
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from a1. The bishops stand side by side on d1 and e1, one on each colour. Among the pawns, b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen begins in the far corner on h1, the knights on b1 and f1. The engine opens on the kingside: h4 e6 g4 h6 e3 g5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.