Starting position #954
Back-rank setup: RKRNBBNQ
SP-954 · RampartGuard — King on the wing (b/g) with both knights on inner files.
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 h1.
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 RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 5.
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 61 Morozov Balance Index: 61 of 100 — class B — balanced.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +23 centipawns for White (depth 47, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 363 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): +37 → +1 → +12 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #5
- 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 479 days
Puzzles from this position
- Winning blow: king to c1 (b2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Winning blow: queen to b6 (c7) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: queen to b7 (f7) — Chess960 specifics · 1010
- Winning blow: bishop to e5 (d4·7) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: queen to d3 (b3) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: king to b1 (a2·8) — Chess960 specifics · 1250
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b7 (c6·10) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Winning blow: rook to c6 (e6) — Chess960 specifics · 1510
- Winning blow: rook to f8 (f1·23) — Chess960 specifics · 1870
- Winning blow: pawn to f8 (f7·12) — Chess960 specifics · 2120
This position appears in course day 207
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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 queen begins in the corner on h1. 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 knights are on d1 and g1. White's edge is a narrow +23 centipawns, and the line mirrors until the capture: a4 a5 e4 e5 f4 exf4.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.