Starting position #924
Back-rank setup: RBKRQNBN
SP-924 · BastionScout — King off-centre on c or f with a knight starting on the rim (a/h).
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 a1 and d1, the queen on e1.
The king already stands on c1, so castling long moves only the rook, from a1 to d1.
The bishops stand on b1 and g1; their long diagonals reach h7 and a7 once the c- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: g2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 44.
The engine's main line opens with d4, 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 34 Morozov Balance Index: 34 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +31 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 621 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): +48 → +31 → +30 → +11
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #44
- The king starts on c, the rooks on a and d
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 58 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: knight to e6 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to e7 (d5·11) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: rook to g8 (g1·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: queen to b5 (e2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1150
- Mate in 2: rook to a8 (c8·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1220
- Winning blow: queen to h7 (h6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Winning blow: pawn to g6 (g5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1610
- Winning blow: queen to b6 (g1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1650
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (d6·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: queen to d4 (f2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 2100
This position appears in course day 77
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone; the rooks are on a1 and d1. The bishops are on b1 and g1, one on each colour. The pawn on g2 begins without a defender, and the pawn on b2 leans on the king alone. The queen is on e1, the knights on f1 and h1 — both can reach g3, so a knight move there has to name its file. The engine takes the centre with d4, and White's edge is +31 centipawns: d4 d5 f3 c6 c3 f6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.