diff --git a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/data/word/WordReferenceRow.java b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/data/word/WordReferenceRow.java
index 5575c06d7..7ec32879c 100644
--- a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/data/word/WordReferenceRow.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/data/word/WordReferenceRow.java
@@ -252,9 +252,16 @@ public final class WordReferenceRow extends AbstractReference implements WordRef
         return (0xff & this.entry.getColByte(col_hitcount));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * First position of word in text
+     * @return Collection with one element
+     */
     @Override
     public Collection<Integer> positions() {
-        return new ArrayList<Integer>(0);
+        int pos = (int) this.entry.getColLong(col_posintext);
+        ArrayList arr = new ArrayList<Integer>(1);
+        arr.add(pos);
+        return arr;
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/data/word/WordReferenceVars.java b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/data/word/WordReferenceVars.java
index af30c4db7..1cec8ad4e 100644
--- a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/data/word/WordReferenceVars.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/data/word/WordReferenceVars.java
@@ -60,10 +60,11 @@ public class WordReferenceVars extends AbstractReference implements WordReferenc
     public final byte[] urlHash;
     private String hostHash = null;
     private final char type;
-    private int hitcount, llocal, lother, phrasesintext,
-               posinphrase, posofphrase,
-               urlcomps, urllength,
-               wordsintext, wordsintitle;
+    private int hitcount, // how often appears this word in the text
+            llocal, lother, phrasesintext,
+            posinphrase, posofphrase,
+            urlcomps, urllength,
+            wordsintext, wordsintitle;
     private int virtualAge;
     private final Queue<Integer> positions;
     private double termFrequency;
@@ -210,6 +211,10 @@ public class WordReferenceVars extends AbstractReference implements WordReferenc
         return this.type;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * How often appears this word in the text
+     * @return
+     */
     @Override
     public int hitcount() {
         return this.hitcount;
@@ -259,7 +264,9 @@ public class WordReferenceVars extends AbstractReference implements WordReferenc
                 this.hitcount,      // how often appears this word in the text
                 this.wordsintext,   // total number of words
                 this.phrasesintext, // total number of phrases
-                this.positions.isEmpty() ? 1 : this.positions.iterator().next(), // position of word in all words
+
+                // TODO: positon 1 on empty positions may give high ranking scores for unknown pos (needs to be checked if 0 would be appropriate)
+                this.positions.isEmpty() ? -1 : this.positions.iterator().next(), // position of word in all words
                 this.posinphrase,   // position of word in its phrase
                 this.posofphrase,   // number of the phrase where word appears
                 this.lastModified,  // last-modified time of the document where word appears
diff --git a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/rwi/AbstractReference.java b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/rwi/AbstractReference.java
index 52c3193b0..e1097da85 100644
--- a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/rwi/AbstractReference.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/rwi/AbstractReference.java
@@ -63,9 +63,17 @@ public abstract class AbstractReference implements Reference {
     private static int max(Collection<Integer> a) {
         if (a == null || a.isEmpty()) return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
         Iterator<Integer> i = a.iterator();
+        /*
+        expirienced concurrency issue with this short cut 2016-09-06
+        on i.next w/o test of hasNext before
+        java.util.NoSuchElementException at java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue$Itr.next(LinkedBlockingQueue.java:828)
+
         if (a.size() == 1) return i.next();
         if (a.size() == 2) return Math.max(i.next(), i.next());
         int r = i.next();
+        */
+        int r = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
+
         int s;
         while (i.hasNext()) {
             s = i.next();
@@ -77,9 +85,12 @@ public abstract class AbstractReference implements Reference {
     private static int min(Collection<Integer> a) {
         if (a == null || a.isEmpty()) return Integer.MAX_VALUE;
         Iterator<Integer> i = a.iterator();
+        /* concurrency issue (see max())
         if (a.size() == 1) return i.next();
         if (a.size() == 2) return Math.min(i.next(), i.next());
         int r = i.next();
+        */
+        int r = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
         int s;
         while (i.hasNext()) {
             s = i.next();
@@ -103,10 +114,11 @@ public abstract class AbstractReference implements Reference {
         if (positions().size() < 2) return 0;
         int d = 0;
         Iterator<Integer> i = positions().iterator();
-        int s0 = i.next(), s1;
+        // int s0 = i.next(), s1; // concurrency issue see max()
+        int s0 = -1, s1;
         while (i.hasNext()) {
             s1 = i.next();
-            d += Math.abs(s0 - s1);
+            if (s0 > 0) d += Math.abs(s0 - s1);
             s0 = s1;
         }
         return d / (positions().size() - 1);