Starting position #716
Back-rank setup: RBKQNNBR
SP-716 · 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 d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 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 444.
The engine's main line opens with d4, 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 37 Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 597 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): +33 → +38 → +7 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #444
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and h
- It becomes the daily position in 891 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b3 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f5 (e4·54) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to c4 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to c7 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: queen to b6 (f2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to d1 (c1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 (d4·31) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Winning blow: queen to a7 (a6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Mate in 2: queen to a8 (f3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Chess960 tactic on d8 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 125
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from a1. The bishops are on b1 and g1, the knights side by side on e1 and f1. On the second rank, b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on d1 beside her king, the second rook in the corner on h1. The engine takes the centre with d4 and the line runs d4 f6 e4 a5 a4 d5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.