Starting position #874
Back-rank setup: QRKRBBNN
SP-874 · BastionScout — A knight on the a- or h-file, king on c or f — the mirror twin lands here as well.
Move the pieces right on the board — full Chess960 rules, castle by dropping the king on the rook.
Position features
The king starts on c1, the rooks on b1 and d1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
The bishops stand on e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 85.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 21 Morozov Balance Index: 21 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +36 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 745 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band M — moderate edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +34 → -7 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #85
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and d
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d5 (a2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g5 (h4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to c4 (c3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Mate in 2: knight to d6 — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: bishop to f3 (e2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Winning blow: queen to a3 (b4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Winning blow: queen to c6 (b5·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e4 (e3·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1750
- Winning blow: knight to c7 (b5·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1930
- Chess960 tactic on e6 (e1·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 213
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone; the rooks are on b1 and d1. The bishops stand side by side on e1 and f1, one on each colour. Among the pawns, h2 begins without a defender, and the pawn on c2 leans on the king alone. The queen begins in the far corner on a1, the knights on g1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. White's edge here is a wide one, +36 centipawns: b4 b5 d3 Ng6 Nf3 d6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.