Starting position #744
Back-rank setup: RBKNBNQR
SP-744 · BastionGuard — King off-centre on c or f with both knights on inner files.
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 a1 and h1, the queen on g1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: e2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 413.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 10 Morozov Balance Index: 10 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +43 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 865 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +51 → -67 → -87 → -98
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #413
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and h
- 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 d6 (e7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d3 (c2·15) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to c7 (a7) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to e1 (b4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to a2 (a1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: rook to a1 (e1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: queen to a5 (b5) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: bishop to e6 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to a8 (d5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on c5 (d6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 101
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone from a1. The bishops are on b1 and e1, the knights on d1 and f1. Among the pawns, e2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on g1, the second rook in the corner on h1. White's edge here is a wide one, +43 centipawns: f3 f5 a4 a5 Nc3 Nc6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.