Starting position #729
Back-rank setup: RKNBBQNR
SP-729 · 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 f1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-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 RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 425.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 24 Morozov Balance Index: 24 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +35 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 724 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +34 → +54 → +58 → +34
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #425
- 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: bishop to a5 (e1·16) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to d4 (f3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to b6 (f2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c7 (g3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b6 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: pawn to b6 — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Winning blow: queen to e6 (f5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: queen to g4 (e2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (d1·25) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: bishop to f6 (c3·8) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 227
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. The bishops stand side by side on d1 and e1, one on each colour. On the second rank, b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on f1, the knights on c1 and g1, the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. White's edge here is a wide one, +35 centipawns: e4 a5 f4 a4 a3 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.