Starting position #741
Back-rank setup: RKBBNNQR
SP-741 · 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 g1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 410.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 59 Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 390 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): +37 → +38 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #410
- 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 265 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h2 (h1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to e2 — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: pawn to e4 (d3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to a2 (b1·12) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to c5 (b4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Mate in 2: rook to a8 (a5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Mate in 2: queen to c7 (a5) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: king to c1 (b1·22) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: knight to d6 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: queen to a3 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 23
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The bishops stand side by side on c1 and d1, one on each colour. The queen is on g1, the knights side by side on e1 and f1, the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. The engine's first move is the a-pawn, and both sides mirror: a4 a5 e4 e5 Nf3 Nf6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.