Starting position #609
Back-rank setup: BRNBQKRN
SP-609 · BastionScout — Off-centre king plus a rim knight (a/h): 168 positions carry this shape.
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 b1 and g1, the queen on e1.
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: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 251.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
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 543 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +22 → -14 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #251
- The king starts on f, the rooks on b 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
- Winning blow: queen to b8 (g3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d2 (e1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g6 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 850
- Winning blow: queen to f7 (f2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to h1 (g1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Mate in 2: queen to c6 (b7) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: bishop to f6 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Mate in 3: rook to h8 (h3) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: queen to e7 (d6·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: rook to g5 (g1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2100
This position appears in course day 22
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Commentary
Short castling swaps the king on f1 with the rook on g1, and both sides use it in the engine's line: b4 e5 O-O Ng6 e4 O-O. A bishop is closed into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1. Among the pawns, h2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on e1 beside her king, the knights on c1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. The second rook stands on b1.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.