Starting position #782
Back-rank setup: QRKNRBBN
SP-782 · BastionScout — The king starts one file off-centre, on c or f, and a knight begins in a corner.
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 b1 and e1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
The pawn on c2, d2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 180.
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 72 Morozov Balance Index: 72 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +20 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 256 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): +34 → +15 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #180
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1070 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g8 (a2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e4 (c3·12) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to a6 (f1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to f7 (f1·6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to a8 (f3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to a7 (c5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: queen to d7 (d3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1620
- Mate in 3: pawn to b5 (b4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e6 (c4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: pawn to d7 (d6·16) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 49
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone; the rooks are on b1 and e1. The bishops stand side by side on f1 and g1, one on each colour. The pawns on c2 and d2 lean on the king alone; the other six start with a defender. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the knights on d1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. White's edge is a narrow +20 centipawns, and the engine takes the centre: e4 e5 f3 f6 Ng3 Nc6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.