Starting position #841
Back-rank setup: RKNBBRQN
SP-841 · RampartScout — A wing-file king (b or g) and at least one corner knight: the rarest of the six families, just 72 positions.
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 d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
The pawn on b2 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 121.
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 59 Morozov Balance Index: 59 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +24 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 386 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: sharpening
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +33 → +18 → 0 → -47
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #121
- 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 979 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g4 (d1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d2 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (d8) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to d3 (d1) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: king to b1 (a1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: rook to e8 (e5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b6 (f2·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1440
- Mate in 3: rook to b1 (a1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 2: rook to b8 (b7·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1670
- Winning blow: pawn to d7 (d6·18) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 82
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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 knights are on c1 and h1 — the first right beside the king, the cornered one with g3 as its only move. The bishops are on d1 and e1, one on each colour. The pawn on b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on g1, the second rook on a1, and the engine takes the centre with e4: e4 a5 f4 a4 a3 f5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.