Starting position #703
Back-rank setup: RQKNNRBB
SP-703 · BastionGuard — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, with neither knight in a corner.
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 f1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 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 448.
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 69 Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 290 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): +19 → +17 → +8 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #448
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and f
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d5 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to h8 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c3 (d2·17) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f5 (b1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to f4 (f2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d7 (c5·23) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: rook to c7 (c4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1470
- Mate in 3: rook to d7 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to c5 (c4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Chess960 tactic on c5 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 168
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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. The pawn on e2 has no defender, and d2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on b1 beside her king, the knights side by side on d1 and e1. The engine takes the centre with e4 and the line runs e4 f5 exf5 e6 f4 exf5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.