Starting position #861
Back-rank setup: RKNBRNBQ
SP-861 · 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 h1.
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.
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 104.
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 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 384 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +42 → +34 → +29 → +6
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #104
- 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 63 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to h8 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: bishop to e3 (g1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: knight to d7 (c5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e3 (f1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: bishop to b6 (g1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: rook to d6 (d1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: queen to a6 (d6) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to a6 (f1·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Mate in 3: queen to f8 (a8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on e6 (e8) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 22
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. The queen begins in the corner on h1, and the rooks are on a1 and e1. The bishops are on d1 and g1, one on each colour. On the second rank, b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The knights are on c1 and f1 — the first right beside the king. White's edge is +24 centipawns: a4 a5 e4 e5 g3 Ne6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.