Starting position #584
Back-rank setup: QBRNBKRN
SP-584 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
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 a1.
Castling short simply swaps the two pieces: the king on f1 and the rook on g1 trade places.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 285.
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 40 Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 571 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): +32 → +26 → -11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #285
- 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: pawn to e5 (d4·11) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h8 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to e6 (c7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g4 (g6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f2 (d1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Mate in 2: queen to f7 (c4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: queen to h8 (h6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to d7 (b7) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: pawn to e8 (e7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on g3 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 22
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Commentary
Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1. The bishops are on b1 and e1, the knights on d1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. On the second rank, h2 has no defender, and e2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the second rook on c1. The search ran to depth 48 and calls it +29 centipawns: c4 c5 O-O Ng6 Ng3 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.