Starting position #921
Back-rank setup: RKRBBQNN
SP-921 · RampartScout — Wing king plus a rim knight, and only 72 positions qualify — the rarest pattern of all.
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 c1, the queen on f1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on d1 and e1; their long diagonals reach h5 and a5 once the e- and d-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: h2.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 41.
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 89 Morozov Balance Index: 89 of 100 — class A — most balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +14 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 100 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 (70 half-moves): +23 → +27 → +12 → 0
- Deeper check (1 200 000 000 nodes, depth 52): +15 cp, +1 cp against the base run — verified
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #41
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and c
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1182 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c5 (c1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to d7 (e6·3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to e2 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Mate in 2: bishop to d2 — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: rook to c7 (c4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Winning blow: rook to d3 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Winning blow: king to e1 (f2·9) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to b7 (b3·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to f8 (f1) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: rook to a7 (a1·11) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
This position appears in course day 89
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Commentary
The king begins on b1 with a rook on either side of him, on a1 and c1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. The bishops are on d1 and e1, one on each colour. On the second rank, h2 begins without a defender, and the pawn on b2 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. White's edge is a narrow +14 centipawns: a4 a5 e4 Ng6 f4 f5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.