Starting position #899
Back-rank setup: BRKQRNNB
SP-899 · BastionGuard — Off-centre king (c/f), 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 c1, the rooks on b1 and e1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from b1 to d1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The second rank carries 2 pawns with no defender at all: a2, f2.
The setup belongs to the BastionGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 51.
The engine's main line opens with g3.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 47 Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 42, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 495 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): +26 → +34 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #51
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 256 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to a3 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f7 (f3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to c7 (d6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to e4 (e1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Mate in 2: queen to b5 — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c4 (b4) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d5 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 2: rook to a5 — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: knight to c5 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: queen to f7 (b3·8) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 54
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Commentary
Both bishops start in the corners, on a1 and h1, each with a single long diagonal — one to h8, the other to a8. The queen keeps her classical square d1, but the king stands to her left, on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone. Two pawns begin without a defender, a2 and f2. The knights are on f1 and g1, standing shoulder to shoulder, and the rooks are on b1 and e1. White's edge is +27 centipawns, and the engine opens on the flank with g3: g3 e5 e4 b6 b3 f5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.