Starting position #9
Back-rank setup: QNNBBRKR
SP-9 · 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 g1, the rooks on f1 and h1, the queen on a1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
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 g2 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 953.
The engine's main line opens with h4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 65 Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 361 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): +43 → +15 → +20 → +10
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #953
- The king starts on g, the rooks on f and h
- 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: pawn to e5 (d4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g4 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to f3 (g2·8) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d7 (e5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Mate in 2: knight to f6 (h5) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c6 (e5·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Mate in 2: rook to h6 (g6) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Winning blow: knight to f7 (e5·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Winning blow: king to g1 (f2·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Chess960 tactic on f6 (c3) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 26
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Commentary
Queen in the corner on a1, king on g1, and the two bishops side by side on d1 and e1 — one on each colour, with lines reaching h5 and h4 once the c-, e-, d- and f-pawns move. Short castling moves the rook only, from h1 to f1. The knights on b1 and c1 cover a3, c3, b3 and d3 between them. On the second rank, g2 has the king as its only defender. The line in the dataset opens h4 h5, then b4 d6 d4 b5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.