Starting position #72
Back-rank setup: NBNRBKQR
SP-72 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on f1, the rooks on d1 and h1, the queen on g1.
The queenside rook already stands on d1, so castling long moves only the king, from f1 to c1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: b2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 893.
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 20 Morozov Balance Index: 20 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +37 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 776 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): +35 → +29 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #893
- The king starts on f, the rooks on d and h
- It becomes the daily position in 183 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b8 (g3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to g2 (f1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g6 (f4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Mate in 2: queen to b8 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: bishop to g7 (h6·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (f4·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Winning blow: queen to d5 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1790
- Winning blow: rook to d5 (d1·19) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on b2 — Chess960 specifics · 2120
- Chess960 tactic on f5 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 49
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Commentary
The rook already occupies d1, so long castling moves the king alone from f1 to c1. The corner knight on a1 has b3 and nothing else; the second knight is on c1. The bishops on b1 and e1 open towards h7 and h4. The pawn on b2 begins with no defender. The engine's main line opens d4 d5, then f3 Nd6 c3 f6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.