Starting position #667
Back-rank setup: RNKRBNQB
SP-667 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight 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 c1, the rooks on a1 and d1, the queen on g1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: e2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 193.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 13 Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 838 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +76 → +48 → +56 → +45
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #193
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and d
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 290 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h1 (g1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to h1 — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to e6 (f5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: pawn to b5 (a4·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to c7 (g3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: rook to a6 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: bishop to f4 (g3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to c8 (c7) — Chess960 specifics · 1700
- Winning blow: rook to d2 (d1·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: queen to b6 (e3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2100
This position appears in course day 196
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from d1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. The pawn on e2 has no defender, and b2 and c2 both lean on the king alone. The queen is on g1, the knights on b1 and f1, the second rook in the corner on a1. White's edge here is a wide one, +41 centipawns: f4 d5 d4 h5 Nc3 f5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.