Starting position #687
Back-rank setup: QRKNNRBB
SP-687 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
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 f1, 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 464.
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 21 Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 752 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): +33 → +30 → +26 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #464
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 659 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e8 (e5) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f8 (e7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to d4 (a1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a8 (h1·33) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to b6 (b4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: queen to c7 (a5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1420
- Mate in 2: rook to c6 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: king to e1 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to b8 (e8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d6 (c5·39) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 7
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Commentary
Both castlings are half-moves here: the king already stands on c1 for the long one, and the rook already occupies f1 for the short. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on g1. On the second rank, e2 has no defender, and d2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the knights side by side on d1 and e1. White's edge here is a wide one, +36 centipawns: f4 a5 b3 f5 Bd4 Bd5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.