Starting position #793
Back-rank setup: RQKBBNRN
SP-793 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
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 g1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 169.
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 7 Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +47 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 890 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +48 → +47 → +47 → +21
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #169
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and g
- It becomes the daily position in 501 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e7 (d5) — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Winning blow: pawn to d5 (c4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to c5 (e6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to d6 (f5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b4 (b1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Mate in 2: queen to b5 (b4) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: knight to a2 (c3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (c3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: bishop to c6 (b5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1420
- Winning blow: bishop to b7 (a8·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
This position appears in course day 6
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone; the rooks are on a1 and g1, and the queen stands right beside, on b1. The bishops are on d1 and e1, one on each colour. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The knights are on f1 and h1 — both can reach g3, so a knight move there has to name its file. White's edge here is a wide one, +47 centipawns: d4 f5 c4 e6 e3 g5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.