Starting position #913
Back-rank setup: BRKBRQNN
SP-913 · BastionScout — A c- or f-file king with at least one knight out on the edge.
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 f1.
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, h2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 43.
The engine's main line opens with e4, putting a pawn straight into the centre.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 69 Morozov Balance Index: 69 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +21 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 283 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (54 half-moves): +20 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #43
- 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 588 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: rook to e3 (e1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to b8 (c6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: king to b2 (c1·15) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Mate in 2: knight to e6 — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: queen to e6 (e1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to e6 (g5·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to b5 (f1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: queen to d7 (b5·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1470
- Mate in 3: rook to e8 (e7·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Chess960 tactic on b7 (b8) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 258
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone; the rooks are on b1 and e1. A bishop holds the corner on a1 with one diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on d1, running to a4 on one side and h5 on the other. Two pawns begin without a defender, a2 and h2, and the pawn on d2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on f1, the knights on g1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. The engine takes the centre with e4, and White's edge is a narrow +21 centipawns: e4 e5 Ng3 Ng6 b4 Nf6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.