Starting position #719
Back-rank setup: RKQNNRBB
SP-719 · RampartGuard — A wing king (b/g) with no knight on the a- or h-file.
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 f1, the queen on c1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
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 RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 432.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 55 Morozov Balance Index: 55 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +25 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 419 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 → +19 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #432
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 170 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d1 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e4 (d3·37) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to c2 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to c3 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d7 (c5·20) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f2 (f4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: rook to b7 (b4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Mate in 3: king to b2 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e7 (e3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Chess960 tactic on d5 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 82
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Commentary
Short castling is two half-moves in one here: the rook already occupies f1, and the king still has five squares to travel to g1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on g1. Among the pawns, e2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on c1 beside her king, the knights side by side on d1 and e1, the second rook in the corner on a1. The engine's line opens g3 f5, then a4 g6 f4 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.