Starting position #857
Back-rank setup: RKNBBRNQ
SP-857 · 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 f1, the queen on h1.
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 RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 105.
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 18 Morozov Balance Index: 18 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +38 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 782 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 (51 half-moves): +37 → +3 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #105
- 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 68 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: bishop to a8 (f3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to c5 (b3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to f4 (f2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to a4 (c6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c6 (d4·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d6 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: king to c1 (b1·17) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: pawn to b3 (c2·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: king to a2 (b1·38) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Chess960 tactic on c6 (c2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 126
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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 g1 — the first right beside the king. The queen begins in the corner on h1, the second rook in the other corner on a1. The bishops are on d1 and e1, one on each colour. Among the pawns, b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. White's edge is +38 centipawns, and both sides push on the wings: a4 a5 e4 e5 g4 h5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.