Starting position #838
Back-rank setup: RKBNRBQN
SP-838 · 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 g1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
The pawn on c2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 118.
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 51 Morozov Balance Index: 51 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +26 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 455 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): +57 → +23 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #118
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 724 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e5 (d4·33) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b4 (a3·12) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to e5 (d3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to b1 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c6 (b5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a7 (g1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Mate in 2: knight to g3 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Mate in 3: queen to c7 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d5 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Chess960 tactic on c8 (d7) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 118
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. The bishops are on c1 and f1, one on each colour. Among the pawns, c2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on g1, the knights on d1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move, and the rooks are on a1 and e1. The engine takes the centre with d4, and the line trades briskly: d4 e5 dxe5 Bb4 Nc3 Bxc3.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.