Starting position #683
Back-rank setup: QRKNBNRB
SP-683 · 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 b1 and g1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 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 465.
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 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 835 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): +42 → +37 → +31 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #465
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1299 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d5 (h1·16) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b6 (a5·19) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b5 (b4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: queen to b5 (b3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c4 (a2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 2: queen to b8 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: queen to d6 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: rook to a3 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: bishop to e3 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: bishop to g2 (d5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 36
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. Among the pawns, e2 has no defender, and c2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the knights side by side on d1 and f1. White's edge here is a wide one, +41 centipawns: b4 d5 a4 g6 d4 b5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.