Starting position #730
Back-rank setup: RKNQBBNR
SP-730 · RampartGuard — Both knights begin on inner files while the king sits on the wing (b/g); mirror twins stay together in this family.
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 d1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-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 421.
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 13 Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 834 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +33 → +1 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #421
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1364 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to a4 (a1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to f6 (g5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to e6 (e3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: pawn to g4 (g2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: rook to b7 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e5 (e2) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Mate in 2: queen to b6 (d6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g3 (f2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Winning blow: pawn to c4 (c2·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1750
- Chess960 tactic on b7 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 8
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. The bishops sit together on e1 and f1, the knights on c1 and g1. Among the pawns, b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on d1, the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. White's edge here is a wide one, +41 centipawns, and Black recaptures with the queen: e4 d5 exd5 Qxd5 f4 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.