Starting position #808
Back-rank setup: RBKQBNRN
SP-808 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
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 d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
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 b2 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 157.
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 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 783 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 (41 half-moves): +43 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #157
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and g
- It becomes the daily position in 508 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g4 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to c3 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to f4 (g3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b5 (a4·33) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to d6 (d2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: rook to f8 (f1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: knight to f2 (e4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to a7 (a8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: queen to e5 (b5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: queen to g5 (g4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2200
This position appears in course day 23
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Commentary
The queen keeps her classical square d1, but the king stands to her left, on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone. The bishops are on b1 and e1, one on each colour. Among the pawns, b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The knights are on f1 and h1 — both can reach g3, so the third half-move carries a letter, and the rooks are on a1 and g1. White's edge is +38 centipawns: d4 d5 Nhg3 Nhg6 a4 c6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.