Starting position #826
Back-rank setup: RKNQBBRN
SP-826 · 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 g1, the queen on d1.
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 133.
The engine's main line opens with a4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 78 Morozov Balance Index: 78 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +18 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 210 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +17 → +5 → +5 → -2
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #133
- 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 1134 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f3 (g2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to h4 (f2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to b5 (c3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g4 (h3) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: queen to a3 (c1) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to d8 (d5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: knight to c5 (b3·15) — Chess960 specifics · 1620
- Mate in 3: queen to c5 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d8 (e7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Chess960 tactic on d5 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 58
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. A knight stands immediately to his right on c1, the second one in the corner on h1 with g3 as its only move. The queen keeps her classical square d1 even though the king has left the centre, and the bishops stand side by side on e1 and f1. Among the pawns, h2 begins without a defender, and the pawn on b2 leans on the king alone. The rooks are on a1 and g1, and White's edge is a narrow +18 centipawns: a4 a5 d4 d5 Ng3 Ng6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.