Starting position #809
Back-rank setup: RKQBBNRN
SP-809 · RampartScout — King on b or g with a knight already on the edge — the least common of the position families (72 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 b1, the rooks on a1 and g1, the queen on c1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
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 RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 153.
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 14 Morozov Balance Index: 14 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +40 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 817 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +33 → +29 → +11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #153
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and g
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 513 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c5 (b4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: king to d1 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to e5 (f4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (d1·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d5 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: rook to c6 (f6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: rook to c7 (c1·20) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: queen to b3 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: rook to d7 (b7) — Chess960 specifics · 1860
- Chess960 tactic on c6 (b4) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 66
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. The queen stands right beside, on c1, and the rooks are on a1 and g1. 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 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. White's edge here is a wide one, +40 centipawns: d4 d5 a4 a5 c4 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.