Starting position #930
Back-rank setup: BRKRNBQN
SP-930 · 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 b1 and d1, the queen on g1.
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.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: a2.
The setup belongs to the BastionScout family; read right to left it becomes position 23.
The engine's main line opens with f3.
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 43, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 282 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 (59 half-moves): +21 → 0 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #23
- The king starts on c, the rooks on b and d
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1413 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: rook to d4 — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Mate in 1: queen to b7 (a8) — Chess960 specifics · 850
- Winning blow: king to c1 (b2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f8 (f1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1090
- Winning blow: rook to b1 (b3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to b8 (a7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to b2 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Mate in 2: queen to e7 (a7) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Mate in 3: queen to d6 (f4) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Mate in 3: queen to c5 (f2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1990
This position appears in course day 42
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Commentary
The king already stands on c1, so long castling moves the rook alone; the rooks are on b1 and d1. A bishop holds the corner on a1 with one diagonal to h8; the second bishop is on f1. The pawn on a2 is the one that begins without a defender. The queen is on g1, the knights on e1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. White's edge is a narrow +21 centipawns, and the engine opens quietly with f3: f3 b6 e4 e5 b3 f6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.