Starting position #96
Back-rank setup: BBQNRNKR
SP-96 · 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 g1, the rooks on e1 and h1, the queen on c1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone — the same soft spot f2 is in the classical setup.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 863.
The engine's main line opens with b4.
Every sentence here is computed from the setup itself and can be checked on the board.
Balance
MBI 47 Morozov Balance Index: 47 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge.
- Engine evaluation of the starting position: +27 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
- Rank 527 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 (58 half-moves): +24 → +3 → +5 → 0
Position facts
- Mirror twin: position #863
- The king starts on g, the rooks on e and h
- King and rook are neighbours — castling from adjacent squares feels unusual
- It becomes the daily position in 1365 days
Puzzles from this position
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e5 (d4) — Chess960 specifics · 780
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e8 (e1·8) — Chess960 specifics · 920
- Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e3 (e1·3) — Chess960 specifics · 1060
- Winning blow: king to h2 (g1·23) — Chess960 specifics · 1110
- Mate in 2: rook to h7 (h5·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Mate in 2: queen to f8 (f6·2) — Chess960 specifics · 1320
- Attack on the uncastled king: queen to b8 (b2·5) — Chess960 specifics · 1560
- Mate in 3: rook to g5 (g4) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Mate in 3: queen to f6 (h6) — Chess960 specifics · 1630
- Winning blow: bishop to g6 (f5·7) — Chess960 specifics · 2380
This position appears in course day 60
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Commentary
Here the knights start on d1 and f1 rather than the usual files, which gives the f1 knight e3 and g3 as its first moves. The king is already on g1, so short castling moves the rook alone, from h1 to f1. A bishop is shut into the corner on a1 with a diagonal to h8, opened by the b-pawn. The pawn on g2 is defended by the king alone. The engine's main line opens b4 b6, then c4 c5 h4 h5.
Written from the measured facts above and checked against the board before publishing. All 960 positions have one.