The Setup Rules

The setup in 960 is not entirely random — the chaos here is carefully ordered. There are two rules: the bishops must stand on squares of opposite colours, and the king strictly between the rooks. The pawns are immovable and always occupy their second rank. Beginners sometimes imagine that everything is shuffled at random, and take fright — needlessly: the structure of the position is preserved. Remember both rules, and none of the 960 positions will feel foreign again.

Question one. Imagine both bishops landing on light squares: half the board would be left unguarded, and that goes against the bishop's very nature. So, in the starting position the bishops are always…