Starting position #795
Back-rank setup: RQKNBRNB
SP-795 · BastionGuard — King shifted to c or f, knights kept clear of the edges — 168 positions in all.
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 f1, the queen on b1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
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 BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 161.
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 83 Morozov Balance Index: 83 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +16 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 150 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +17 → +25 → +8 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #161
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and f
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a7 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g4 (e3·8) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to b6 (a8) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c3 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g4 (e3·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to c6 (d4·13) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Castling-960 to the rescue on a1 (c1·6) — Castling-960 · 1340
- Winning blow: rook to h8 (h7·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: bishop to e5 (c7) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on f8 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 52
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Commentary
Both castlings are one-sided here: the rook already occupies f1 and the king already stands on c1, so each move sends a single piece. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. On the second rank, h2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen stands on b1, right beside the king, and the knights are on d1 and g1. The engine opens on the wing with a4, and White's advantage stays narrow at +16 centipawns: a4 d6 f4 g6 e4 a5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.