Starting position #714
Back-rank setup: RKQNBBNR
SP-714 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) 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 b1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on c1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
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 RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 437.
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 51 Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 461 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): +29 → +2 → +13 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #437
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a 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 f4 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f5 (e4·41) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c6 (e5·9) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to e7 (d5·12) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to a6 (f1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: knight to b6 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: queen to a4 (c2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: king to a2 (b1·44) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Mate in 3: rook to e8 (e2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to b5 (e2·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 91
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. 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 c1 beside her king, the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. The engine takes the centre with e4 and the line runs e4 e5 f4 d6 Nc3 f5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.