Starting position #728
Back-rank setup: RBKNBQNR
SP-728 · 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 f1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 429.
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 61 Morozov Balance Index: 61 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +23 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 368 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +36 → +33 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #429
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and h
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b3 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to b2 (c1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d6 (b4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to c7 (c6) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: queen to c6 (b7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to a3 (a1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: rook to c7 (c1·18) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f4 (f2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: queen to a8 (a7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to c3 (e1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 89
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from a1. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The bishops are on b1 and e1, the knights on d1 and g1. The queen is on f1, the second rook in the corner on h1. The engine takes the centre with d4 and the line runs d4 e5 c3 c6 e4 exd4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.