Starting position #937
Back-rank setup: RKRBBNQN
SP-937 · RampartScout — A wing-file king (b or g) and at least one corner knight: the rarest of the six families, just 72 positions.
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 g1.
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.
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 RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 25.
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 65 Morozov Balance Index: 65 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +22 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 319 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band S — slight edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +32 → +60 → +26 → +15
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #25
- 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 472 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c6 (e5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 850
- Winning blow: pawn to f4 (e3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to c2 (e4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to c5 (g1) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: knight to e5 (c4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f4 (d2·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to h6 (g4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1340
- Winning blow: king to d4 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 1470
- Mate in 2: knight to d6 (e4·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1670
- Winning blow: rook to b7 (b4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 36
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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. The pawn on b2 leans on the king alone; no other second-rank pawn starts short of a defender. The queen is on g1, the knights on f1 and h1 — both can reach g3, so a knight move there has to name its file. White's edge is a narrow +22 centipawns: a4 a5 f4 f5 d4 e6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.