Starting position #666
Back-rank setup: RNKRBBNQ
SP-666 · BastionGuard — King off-centre on c or f with both knights on inner files.
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 d1, 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 e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2, c2 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 197.
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 40 Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 567 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): +34 → +6 → -1 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #197
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and d
- 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 d5 (h1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to a5 (e1) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to c6 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to e4 (g3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b7 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d6 (f4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to c7 (h2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: knight to d6 (c4·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1420
- Mate in 3: queen to e6 (e7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to e6 (e4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 57
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from d1. The bishops sit together on e1 and f1, the knights on b1 and g1. Two second-rank pawns lean on the king alone: b2 and c2, side by side. The queen begins in the far corner on h1, the second rook in the corner on a1. The engine takes the centre with e4 and the line runs e4 g5 Nc3 Nc6 g3 Bg7.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.