Starting position #839
Back-rank setup: RKBNRQNB
SP-839 · RampartGuard — A wing king (b/g) with no knight on the a- or h-file.
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 f1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 114.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 13 Morozov Balance Index: 13 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +41 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 832 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +46 → +26 → -3 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #114
- 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 279 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: knight to e1 — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to d5 (h1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a6 (f1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e6 (e1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to c6 (d5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to c4 (c1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d5 (c4·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f4 (c1·35) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to d8 (d4·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (d4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 149
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. Among the pawns, h2 begins without a defender, and the pawn on c2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on f1, the knights on d1 and g1, the rooks on a1 and e1. The engine takes the centre with e4, and White's edge here is a wide one, +41 centipawns: e4 a5 a4 e5 g3 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.