Starting position #686
Back-rank setup: QRKNNBBR
SP-686 · BastionGuard — A c- or f-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
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 h1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on d2 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 468.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 65 Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 333 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +39 → -24 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #468
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 586 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a6 (f1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to d5 (e4·10) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to d1 (c1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to c2 (c1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: bishop to b6 (g1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: knight to d7 (e5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: knight to b6 (d7·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 3: bishop to d6 (g3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (d2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: knight to d5 (f4·9) — Chess960 specifics · 2290
This position appears in course day 178
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. The bishops sit together on f1 and g1, the knights side by side on d1 and e1. On the second rank, d2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the second rook in the corner on h1. The engine's first move is the a-pawn: a4 e5 g3 Nc6 f4 exf4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.