Starting position #927
Back-rank setup: RKRQNNBB
SP-927 · 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 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 32.
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 3 Morozov Balance Index: 3 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +52 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 929 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: volatile
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +45 → +72 → +49 → +8
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #32
- 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 83 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: pawn to c3 (b2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: queen to d7 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to d4 (a4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to c6 (c1·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: rook to a4 (a8) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to g7 (e5·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Mate in 2: rook to a6 (b6) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: pawn to b7 (a6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to e6 (c4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Mate in 3: pawn to b6 (b5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 2170
This position appears in course day 49
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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. The bishops sit together at the edge, on g1 and h1, and the cornered one has a single diagonal to a8. On the second rank, b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The knights are on e1 and f1, standing shoulder to shoulder. White's edge here is a wide one, +52 centipawns: a4 a5 e4 f5 exf5 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.