Starting position #811
Back-rank setup: RKQNBRNB
SP-811 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
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 f1, the queen on c1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
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 RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 145.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 28 Morozov Balance Index: 28 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +33 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 685 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +16 → +8 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #145
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and f
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 556 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: knight to f7 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d3 (c2·11) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to d7 (c5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to b3 (a4) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to e1 (c1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: king to c2 (b1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to a4 (a1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to f4 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: queen to c7 (e5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Winning blow: queen to e8 (b5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 59
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and the rook already occupies f1, so short castling is a solo five-square walk to g1. The queen stands on c1, right beside the king, and the second rook is on a1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. The pawn on h2 is the one that begins without a defender, and the knights are on d1 and g1. The engine takes the centre with e4, and the line ends with a pair of captures: e4 d6 d3 f5 exf5 Qxf5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.