Starting position #845
Back-rank setup: RKNBRQBN
SP-845 · RampartScout — King on b or g with a knight already on the edge — the least common of the position families (72 in 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 e1, the queen on f1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 120.
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 5 Morozov Balance Index: 5 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +49 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 913 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +48 → +36 → +37 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #120
- 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 132 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: knight to f8 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to a5 (a8) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f7 (g6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e8 (e1·16) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: bishop to h2 (g1) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c4 (f1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: pawn to b5 (a4·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: knight to b4 (d3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: bishop to a4 (d1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b6 (e3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
This position appears in course day 40
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board 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 g1, one on each colour. Among the pawns, d2 begins without a defender — a central pawn left bare on move one — and the pawn on b2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on f1, the rooks on a1 and e1, and White's edge here is a wide one, +49 centipawns: e4 e5 Bg4 d6 Ng3 Ng6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.