Starting position #737
Back-rank setup: BRKBNNQR
SP-737 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), 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 c1, the rooks on b1 and h1, the queen on g1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 411.
The engine's main line opens with b3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 80 Morozov Balance Index: 80 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +17 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 186 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): +21 → +2 → -14 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #411
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 887 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c4 (b3·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f6 (e5·14) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to b2 (c1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b8 (b2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b7 (c6·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to h8 (h4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to a7 (g1) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: bishop to f6 (e5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Winning blow: queen to f2 (f1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
- Chess960 tactic on g2 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 60
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from b1. A bishop is closed into the corner on a1 with a single diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1. Among the pawns, a2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on g1, the knights side by side on e1 and f1, the second rook in the corner on h1. The engine's line opens b3 b6, then d4 d5 Nd2 Nd7.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.