Starting position #705
Back-rank setup: BRKBQNNR
SP-705 · 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 h1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, g2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 443.
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 24 Morozov Balance Index: 24 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +35 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 725 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): +27 → +35 → +13 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #443
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h1 (g1) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c3 (d2·10) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d6 (f5·15) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h2 (h1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: knight to c6 (d4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: bishop to e3 (d2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: king to b4 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: queen to e6 (e2·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e1 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Winning blow: knight to a5 (b3·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 86
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. A bishop is closed into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1. Two pawns begin with no defender at all: a2 and g2, one on each wing. The queen is on e1, the knights side by side on f1 and g1. White's edge here is a wide one, +35 centipawns: f4 b5 Nf3 Nf6 b4 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.