Starting position #810
Back-rank setup: RKQNBBRN
SP-810 · RampartScout — King on the wing (b/g) with a knight on the rim (a/h) — the rarest family.
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 e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 149.
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 43 Morozov Balance Index: 43 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +28 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 535 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): +30 → +3 → 0 → +8
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #149
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and g
- 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
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c5 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to h5 (g4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b4 (a3·11) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to a8 (a6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to a2 (b1·20) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Mate in 2: knight to c7 (a6) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d3 (c4) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Mate in 3: knight to d6 (b5) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: knight to b7 (a5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: rook to e8 (e1·27) — Chess960 specifics · 2290
This position appears in course day 11
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads
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 stand side by side on e1 and f1, one on each colour. The pawn on h2 is the one that begins without a defender. The knights are on d1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. The engine takes the centre with d4: d4 d5 f4 Qd7 Nc3 Nc6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.