Starting position #813
Back-rank setup: RKQBNRBN
SP-813 · RampartScout — Wing king plus a rim knight, and only 72 positions qualify — the rarest pattern of 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 f1, 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 g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-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 152.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 69 Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 286 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (55 half-moves): +28 → +15 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #152
- 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 369 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c8 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d3 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d7 (c5·14) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Mate in 2: bishop to c6 — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Mate in 2: queen to b8 (h8) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: king to b3 (a2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: king to a4 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to d8 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: bishop to f2 (e1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Chess960 tactic on b7 (c7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 3
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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. The bishops are on d1 and g1, 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 e1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. White's edge is a narrow +21 centipawns: f4 f5 a4 a5 d3 Ng6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.