Starting position #702
Back-rank setup: RQKNNBBR
SP-702 · BastionGuard — King off-centre on c or f with both knights on inner files.
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 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 452.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 40 Morozov Balance Index: 40 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +29 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 565 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 (51 half-moves): +37 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #452
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and h
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f4 (g3·17) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b5 (a3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f8 (a3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to c7 (c3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: queen to c7 (c3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Winning blow: queen to c3 (f3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to e7 (e1·17) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: queen to d2 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Mate in 3: rook to h8 (h4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: pawn to b3 (c2·13) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 61
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from a1. The bishops sit together on f1 and g1, the knights side by side on d1 and e1. The pawn on d2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on b1 beside her king, the second rook in the corner on h1. The engine takes the centre with e4 and Black answers in kind: e4 e5 Ne3 c6 h3 h6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.