Starting position #742
Back-rank setup: RKBNNBQR
SP-742 · 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 g1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 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 406.
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 47 Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 500 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +25 → +12 → +6 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #406
- 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: queen to d8 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to f6 (d5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e7 (d8) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (c3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: bishop to d7 (b5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to b4 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: pawn to c5 (d4·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: rook to e8 (e1) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: rook to b4 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
- Winning blow: queen to d6 (a6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 8
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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 are on c1 and f1, the knights side by side on d1 and e1. The queen is on g1, the rooks in the corners on a1 and h1. The engine takes the centre with d4 and the line runs d4 d5 f3 f6 Nd3 Bf5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.