Starting position #951
Back-rank setup: RKBRNNQB
SP-951 · RampartGuard — King pushed to the b- or g-file, knights off the edges — 144 positions here.
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 g1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
A bishop starts in the corner on h1: it has a single diagonal, which the g-pawn unlocks, running out to a8.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: e2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 2.
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 26 Morozov Balance Index: 26 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +34 centipawns for White (depth 46, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 700 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): +34 → +37 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #2
- 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 1276 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e4 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: knight to d1 (e3) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Winning blow: queen to e7 (d6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: rook to f8 (f4·6) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: rook to b3 (c3·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: knight to f5 (e7·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1290
- Mate in 2: queen to b7 (g7) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 3: rook to d8 (d1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 2: rook to c7 (c1·4) — Chess960 specifics · 1670
- Winning blow: queen to c7 (e5·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
This position appears in course day 106
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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, and the second rook stands in the corner on a1. A bishop holds the corner on h1 with one diagonal to a8; the second bishop is on c1. On the second rank, e2 is the one that begins without a defender — a central pawn bare on move one. The queen is on g1, the knights on e1 and f1, and their reaches do not overlap. White's edge is +34 centipawns: a4 a5 e4 e5 g3 f5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.