Starting position #698
Back-rank setup: RQKNBBNR
SP-698 · 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 a1 and h1, the queen on b1.
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.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 453.
The engine's main line opens with c3.
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 332 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +47 → +23 → +7 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #453
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 75 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e5 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b4 (e1·8) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (c3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e4 (d3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (e5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Mate in 2: queen to c7 (b8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: queen to f5 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 2: rook to h3 (h2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to d1 (h1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Chess960 tactic on b6 (a5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 50
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from a1. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The bishops sit together on e1 and f1, the knights on d1 and g1. The queen is on b1 beside her king, the second rook in the corner on h1. The recorded line opens c3 c6, then d4 d5 Nf3 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.