Starting position #837
Back-rank setup: RKBBNRQN
SP-837 · 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 g1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-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 122.
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 51 Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 456 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): +26 → +26 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #122
- 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 438 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to c3 (b2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f7 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: pawn to b6 (a5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to b1 (c1·12) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e5 (h2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to c6 (e5·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a8 (c6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 3: queen to f8 (d6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d6 (h2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on a5 (c5) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 19
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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 bishops stand side by side on c1 and d1, one on each colour. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The queen is on g1, the knights on e1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move, and the second rook is on a1. The engine opens on the wing with a4, and White's edge is +26 centipawns: a4 a5 e4 e5 Ng3 g5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.