Starting position #938
Back-rank setup: RKRNBBQN
SP-938 · RampartScout — The king starts on b or g while a knight begins on the a- or h-file — the smallest family.
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 e1 and f1; their long diagonals reach a5 and a6 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartScout family; read right to left it becomes position 21.
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 7 Morozov Balance Index: 7 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +46 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 885 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: stable
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (38 half-moves): +31 → +21 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #21
- 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 1330 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to e5 (d4·4) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to f5 (f3·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: pawn to g3 (h2·14) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to d6 (b5·16) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 2: queen to c8 (e8) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: queen to a6 (e2·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Winning blow: pawn to d5 (d4·11) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: rook to a4 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: queen to d7 (d2·10) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Chess960 tactic on c6 (b5) — Chess960 specifics · 2250
This position appears in course day 224
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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 stand side by side on e1 and f1, one on each colour. Every pawn on the second rank begins with a defender — this setup concedes nothing on move one. The queen is on g1, the knights on d1 and h1 — the cornered one has g3 as its only move. The engine takes the centre with d4, and White's edge here is a wide one, +46 centipawns: d4 f5 f3 e5 dxe5 Ng6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.