Starting position #749
Back-rank setup: RKNBNQBR
SP-749 · RampartGuard — A wing king (b/g) with 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 b1, the rooks on a1 and h1, the queen on f1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 408.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 4 Morozov Balance Index: 4 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +50 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 922 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): +45 → +58 → +85 → +94
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #408
- 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: pawn to d4 (e3·23) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to f5 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c4 (c5) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: king to c3 (b4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g8 (b3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to h3 (f5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: queen to b7 (a6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1430
- Mate in 3: queen to e6 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to b5 (c4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on d4 (e3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 217
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Commentary
White's edge here is a wide one: +50 centipawns at depth 46. The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. Among the pawns, d2 has no defender, and b2 leans on the king alone. The bishops are on d1 and g1, the queen on f1, the knights on c1 and e1. The line runs e4 Nf6 f3 a5 a4 h5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.