Starting position #855
Back-rank setup: RKBNRNQB
SP-855 · RampartGuard — King pushed to the b- or g-file, knights off the edges — 144 positions here.
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.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
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 RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 98.
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 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 453 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): +25 → +14 → +6 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #98
- 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 129 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g4 (f3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to c3 (b5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: rook to b7 (b1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to a6 (c7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: knight to b5 (d6·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: bishop to b7 (f3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: bishop to f5 (e4·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Mate in 3: queen to f1 (g2) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: bishop to c6 (h1·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to g8 (e8) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 158
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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. On the second rank, c2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on g1, the rooks on a1 and e1, and the knights on d1 and f1 — both can reach e3, which is why the line writes Nfe3 with a letter. White's edge is +26 centipawns: a4 a5 e4 g5 Nfe3 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.