Starting position #814
Back-rank setup: RKQNRBBN
SP-814 · RampartScout — A knight in the corner and the king out on the wing (b/g); like every family, it is closed under mirror twins.
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 e1, 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 f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 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 148.
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 27 Morozov Balance Index: 27 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +32 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 699 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- In 50 self-play games White scored 55.0% (95% CI 41.3–67.9%).
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +39 → +27 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #148
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and e
- 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: bishop to c6 (e4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to c7 (g3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to b5 (a6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to d8 (d1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Mate in 2: queen to e8 (e1) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c3 (c2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to c8 (f5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: queen to b2 (e5) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Mate in 3: bishop to b6 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1950
- Chess960 tactic on c7 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 2350
This position appears in course day 22
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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 on c1, right beside the king, and the rooks are on a1 and e1. The bishops stand side by side on f1 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 d1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. The engine takes the centre with d4: d4 f5 Nc3 d5 f3 Nc6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.