Starting position #958
Back-rank setup: RKRNNBBQ
SP-958 · RampartGuard — Both knights begin on inner files while the king sits on the wing (b/g); mirror twins stay together in this 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 h1.
From b1 the king makes the longest journey Chess960 allows when castling short: five squares to g1.
The bishops stand on f1 and g1; their long diagonals reach a6 and a7 once the e- and f-pawns step aside.
One second-rank pawn starts with no defender at all: d2.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 4.
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 11 Morozov Balance Index: 11 of 100 — class D — largest edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +42 centipawns for White (depth 44, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 844 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 (56 half-moves): +39 → +11 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #4
- 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 136 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d7 — Chess960 specifics · 620
- Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to h5 (g4·14) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Winning blow: pawn to e7 (e6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 970
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h8 (h2·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1200
- Winning blow: pawn to d5 (e4·19) — Chess960 specifics · 1280
- Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to d4 (g1·12) — Chess960 specifics · 1390
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b7 (h1·18) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b7 (h1·22) — Chess960 specifics · 1450
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b7 (h1·26) — Chess960 specifics · 1670
- Chess960 tactic on a5 (b5) — Chess960 specifics · 2400
This position appears in course day 1
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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 f1 and g1, one on each colour. Among the pawns, d2 is the one that begins without a defender — a central pawn bare on move one. The knights are on d1 and e1 — both can reach d3, 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, +42 centipawns: e4 g5 g3 f5 exf5 a5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.