Starting position #717
Back-rank setup: RKQBNNBR
SP-717 · RampartGuard — King pushed to the b- or g-file, knights off the edges — 144 positions here.
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 d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-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 440.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 784 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 → +27 → +9 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #440
- 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 d2 (e3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to d5 (e4·12) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b7 (a6·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b7 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Mate in 2: queen to a6 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: bishop to a7 (e3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: king to a2 (b1·33) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e7 (e3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Castling-960 to the rescue on a1 (b1·8) — Castling-960 · 1620
- Winning blow: bishop to c5 (a3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1890
This position appears in course day 117
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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 are on d1 and g1, the knights side by side on e1 and f1. The queen is on c1 beside her king, the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. White's edge here is a wide one, +38 centipawns: a4 a5 e4 e5 Nf3 Nd6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.