Starting position #923
Back-rank setup: RKRQBNNB
SP-923 · RampartGuard — A wing king (b/g) with 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 b1, the rooks on a1 and c1, the queen on d1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
The pawn on b2 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 33.
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 37 Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 590 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): +39 → +41 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #33
- 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 960 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to a3 (b2·24) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to c7 (d6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c6 (c4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to d4 (f3·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to f7 (e7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b5 (b3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to d5 (c3·16) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: pawn to f4 (f2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Winning blow: knight to b5 (c3·23) — Chess960 specifics · 1650
- Chess960 tactic on e3 — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 31
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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 queen keeps her classical square d1 even though the king has left the centre. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on e1. Among the pawns, b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The knights are on f1 and g1, standing shoulder to shoulder, and White's edge is +30 centipawns: a4 a5 d4 f5 f4 g6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.