Starting position #950
Back-rank setup: RKBRNBNQ
SP-950 · RampartGuard — A b- or g-file king and two knights on inner files (b–g).
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 d1, 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 f1; their long diagonals reach h6 and a6 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 6.
The engine's main line opens with e4, 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 8 Morozov Balance Index: 8 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +45 centipawns for White (depth 48, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 879 of 960 by balance — 1 is the most balanced start.
- Balance band L — large edge · dynamics along the play-out: equalizing
- Evaluation along the engine's main line (60 half-moves): +45 → +33 → +19 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #6
- The king starts on b, the rooks on a and d
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 182 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e4 (g5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to b6 (a5·5) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: pawn to b6 (b5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to c7 (g7·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to g5 (g4·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f8 (d8) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 3: pawn to c8 — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: rook to b3 (d3) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 2: queen to c8 (a6·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1670
- Winning blow: queen to c6 (c4·6) — Chess960 specifics · 2200
This position appears in course day 51
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Commentary
The king begins on b1, and short castling takes him five squares across the board to g1. A rook occupies d1, the square a classical setup keeps for the queen, while the queen herself begins in the corner on h1; the second rook is on a1. The bishops are on c1 and f1, one on each colour. On the second rank, f2 is the one that begins without a defender. The knights are on e1 and g1 — both can reach f3, so a knight move there has to name its file. The engine takes the centre with e4, and White's edge here is a wide one, +45 centipawns: e4 e5 a4 a5 g3 Ne7.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.