Starting position #949
Back-rank setup: RKBBRNNQ
SP-949 · RampartGuard — The king starts out on a wing file, b or g, with neither knight in a corner.
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 e1, the queen on h1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on c1 and d1; their long diagonals reach h6 and h5 once the d- and e-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: f2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 10.
The engine's main line opens with f4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 37 Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 589 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): +28 → +30 → +9 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #10
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and e
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- This position does not come up as the daily position in the next four years
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d8 (d2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to a5 (b4·18) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: bishop to b2 (c1) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c3 (a3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Mate in 3: queen to b5 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: knight to c8 (b6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1760
- Winning blow: rook to d7 (h7·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Mate in 3: rook to f7 (f6) — Chess960 specifics · 1980
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (b2·8) — Chess960 specifics · 2060
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d6 (f4·8) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 78
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. The queen begins in the corner on h1, and the rooks are on a1 and e1. The bishops stand side by side on c1 and d1, and the knights are on f1 and g1, shoulder to shoulder. The pawn on f2 is the one that begins without a defender — and it is the pawn the engine pushes first. White's edge is +30 centipawns, and the line answers in mirror: f4 f5 a4 a5 Ng3 Ng6.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.