Starting position #747
Back-rank setup: RKNNBQRB
SP-747 · 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 g1, the queen on f1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 401.
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 75 Morozov Balance Index: 75 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +19 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 228 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): +30 → +7 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #401
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 336 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f8 (g8) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c3 (e2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e8 (e1·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: pawn to b5 (c4·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to a7 (f2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b3 (d2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: queen to e6 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: bishop to d5 (c4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: knight to e7 (d5·24) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on c4 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 108
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. On the second rank, h2 has no defender, and c2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on f1, the knights side by side on c1 and d1, the second rook in the corner on a1. The engine's first move is the a-pawn: a4 a5 g3 f5 f4 g6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.