Starting position #8
Back-rank setup: QBNNBRKR
SP-8 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on g1, the rooks on f1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
The bishops stand on b1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a5 once the c- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 957.
The engine's main line opens with h4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 795 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +41 → +26 → -15 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #957
- The king starts on g, the rooks on f 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
- Winning blow: bishop to h6 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to f1 (g1·15) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Mate in 2: queen to g3 (e1) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: rook to c8 (c1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e7 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Castling-960 to the rescue on h8 (g8) — Castling-960 · 1340
- Mate in 3: rook to g3 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to e6 (f5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to g3 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Chess960 tactic on g3 (f2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 315
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Commentary
The queen holds the corner on a1 while the king sits on g1, already on the square short castling would give it, so only the rook moves, from h1 to f1. The bishop on b1 opens along the a-pawn and the c-pawn towards h7; its partner on e1 works the dark squares, with the d-pawn and the f-pawn unlocking lines to a5 and h4. On the second rank, g2 is defended by the king alone, the same soft spot the classical setup has on f2. Both knights start on the central files, c1 and d1. The recorded line opens h4 h5, then turns to the centre with d4 d5 before b3 b6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.