BRAILLE AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

CHESS COMMITTEE

BRAILLE CODE

AND LAYOUT 

c

BAUK Registered CharityNumb er

Previous edition

Available from Royal National Institute for the Blind Bakewell Road Orton Southgate

Peterb orough Cambridgeshire PE XU

CONTENTS

Intro duction

Abbreviations

Notation

a Algebraic notation

b

Layout

Diagrams

Problems

Example

INTRODUCTION

Memb ership of Committee

MrFJJakeman Chairman

Mr H H Cohn

Mr T M Jarrold Secretary

MrSLovell

This co de has b een formulated to facilitate transcription from printinto braille and

also for use by blind players when writing annotation

When writing down chess moves and annotation as distinct from transcription from

print the minimum amount of co ding should b e used when dening moves

Terms used in this co de

Move This usually consists of the name of the piece and the square to whichitismoving

eg Qa

Game moveAmove made byaplayer within the course of a game usually denoted by

b old print and preceded by the movenumb er eg Ke

AnalysisText and moves in ordinary print which are a comment on the game taking

place by one of the players or someone else

BRAILLE CHESS CODE AND LAYOUT

Dot precedes the name of a piece or square except within game moves it

also precedes isolated unnumb ered moves where no colour is sp ecied by the text of the

analysis

When writing analysis or if print dierentiates black and white moves isolated

unnumb ered moves should b e preceded by dots for black or dots for white

When a series of one or more numbered moves o ccurs within analysis the rst move

numb er is followed by a space as are all movenumb ers and then the rst move is preceded

by dots if it is black representing prints dots but nothing if it is white

Eachmovenumb er is written as a lower numb er without a numeral sign eg

f

This applies to b oth game moves and moves within analysis

sign is used to separate chess moves piece abbreviations and square names The

from immediately following punctuation this includes a bracket The abbreviations listed

in are not counted as part of a move so do not need to b e separated from any following

punctuation bya sign eg

e

a

e

ABBREVIATIONS

Pieces

These abbreviations stand for b oth the word and the symbol

King

Bishop

Pawn

Queen

Ro ok

Knight

for pawns The plural is expressed by doubling the sign eg

Abbreviations and symb ols used in moves

Attack

Counterplay

if it o ccurs at the end of a game

 

Will lead to a draw if it o ccurs in the middle

of a game

En Passant

With the idea

With

X Mate





Plus With Advantage This represents all the

various degrees of advantage

With Equality

Resigns this replaces prints usual metho d

of showing resignation where black resigns

and where white resigns

Unclear p osition

Go o d Move and ExcellentMove

Bad Move and Very Bad Move

Interesting or Risky Move

Dubious Move

Within analysis an oblique stroke is substituted for the word or b etween moves

The oblique stroke should b e unspaced

The following is a list of other printsymb ols whichmay app ear but for whichthere

are no sp ecial braille signs For these the meaning must b e written out in words

comp ensation for the material

strong sucient

 weak insucient

b etter is

weaker is

only move t

development advantage

The following abbreviations maybeusedby blind players when writing notation

p erp etual

Notes

All abbreviations in this list except for the resigns sign and with the idea sign

are brailled immediately after the move eg

eX

d

The resigns sign is unspaced from the previous move when the player of the last

move resigns this is relatively unusual otherwise it is spaced

sign is to b e followed by the moves suggested by the idea without The

intervening space the moves b eing preceded by the symb ols dots or white or

black or a dot if print do es not sp ecify the colour

In cases where a player loses b ecause of time the braille should follow printinthe

indication of this eg

h T

Note when two signs from list o ccur consecutively only one sign is needed

eg

e

Knightmoves to the E square go o d move with advantage

Miscell aneous

Black

Championship

Game

Grand Master

International Master

Move

Square

Tournament

Variation

White

Abbreviations except the one for are used to form longer words in a chess

context eg dot qside ENdgm sqd

The abbreviations listed in should only b e used when their original chess meaning

is intended eg not Bk sea Mr Whtmvs house

NOTATION

Two metho ds of are describ ed in this section A Algebraic Notation

and B Descriptive Notation The metho d used dep ends on which metho d printuses

A Algebraic Notation

Squares are counted from whites side of the b oard ranks numb ered from to

white to black les lettered from A to H left to right from whites p oint of view

Piece moves normally consist of three symb ols the name of the piece to b e moved

the letter of the le without letter sign and the numb er of the rank written as a lower

numb er without a numeral sign The name of the square is that to which the piece is

moving eg

f

Ro ok to the F square

If printintro duces a hyphen b etween the piece and the square to whichitmoves the

hyphen is omitted

Moves where a piece makes a capture indicated in printby a cross have dots

inserted b etween the name of the piece and that of the square the dots sign is not

inserted when the print makes no sp ecial indication of capture Checks indicated in print

by a plus sign are shown by inserting dots in the same place Similarlydots

are used when a piece b oth captures and checks eg

f

Ro ok captures on the F square and gives check

Pawn moves are shown thus

d

Pawn is moved to the D square

cd

Pawn on the Cle captures on the D square

cd

Pawn on the Cle captures to the Dle

Braille follows the print as closely as p ossible in all these cases Thus when a capture

sign is shown in print eg a you would braille the following

cd

symb ol is used after the move eg When a pawn captures the

cd

Checks given bya pawn moveareshown thus

f

Pawn moves to the F square and gives check

Pawn is shown thus

g

Pawn moves to the G square and promotes to a queen

e

Pawn moves to the E square and promotes to a

The following typ e of pawn movemay also need to b e shown

de

Pawn on the Dle takes on the E square promotes to a queen and gives check

Where two similar pieces can move to the same square it is necessary to sp ecify

which piece is b eing moved eg

ce

Knight on the Cle moves to the E square

bc

KnightonBmoves to C

c

Knight on the st rank moves to c

If the piece b eing moved in the ab ove example were capturing a piece the movewould

b e shown thus

bc

There are no abbreviations for or discovered check They must follow

the move and must b e in round brackets

is shown as follows

Move white castles kingside black castles queenside

Prints various metho ds of referring to pawns and pieces on sp ecic les and squares

can b e abbreviated and made consistent Thus

bpawn or bpawn

queens pawn

bp b pawn

When print inserts a hyphen b etween squares or b etween one square and another

within a move they should b e brailled thus

the diagonal ag

blacks move gg

B Descriptive Notation

This notation has b een sup erseded by algebraic notation in print These notes will

enable anyone not familiar with descriptive notation to read braille previously transcrib ed

Some knowledge of algebraic notation will b e necessary

Extra Abbreviations

Bishop

Knight

These are used in place of l and s of the algebraic notation

The squares are counted indep endently from whites p osition and from blacks

p osition This means that each square has two names

The Board

The side of the b oard to the right of whites king to the left of blacks is known as

the kingside the side of the b oard to the left of whites queen to the right of blacks is

known as the queenside This always applies even when b oth kings and queens haveleft

their initial p ositions after the start of the game

The vertical lines les are named according to the pieces that stand on their initial

squares as the b oard is set up for the start of a game They are from left to rightfor

white and inversely for black the queens ro oks le the queens knights le the queens

bishops le the queens le the kings le the kings bishops le the kings knights le

the kings ro oks le Note that in texts these are usually written as

QRle QIle QBle Qle Kle KBle KIle KRle

The horizontal lines ranks are numb ered from one to eight counting from whites

rst rank in whites case and from blacks rst rank in blacks case

Print has a hyphen b etween the piecepawn b eing moved and the square to which

it is moved Dot represents the hyphen but it has not always b een present Eg

PK

Pawn to king

Print has a cross b etween the piecepawn making a capture and the piecepawn

b eing captured x represents a capture the letter sign is omitted Eg

PP

Pawn captures pawn

The following symb ols representvarious typ es of check and app ear at the end of a

move

check

discovered check

double check

Pawns adopt the name of the le on which they stand a capture will thus alter the

name to that of the le onto which the pawn captured Qualication of pawn moves is

often necessary eg PKB instead of PB b ecause PQB was also p ossible in that p osition

Varying degrees of qualication b ecome necessary dep ending on the p osition eg IPP

instead of simply PP b ecause another PP capture is p ossible elsewhere KIPP instead

of IPP b ecause QIPP is p ossible on the other wing KIPRP would b e necessary if

b oth KIPBP and QIPRP were p ossible Qualication may also o ccur at the p ointof

capture eg PBP or PQBP

Qualication of piece moves is often necessary eg IKB instead of IB b ecause

IQB was p ossible KRQ instead of RQ b ecause QRQ was p ossible The former shows

sp ecication of the square to which the piece is moving while the latter sp ecies which

piece is moved

Castling may app ear as follows

castles to whichever side is legal

castles kingside

castles queenside

LAYOUT

The title of a game is centred with v for versus or a dash b etween the names of

the players following print if appropriate The venue if present and the op ening are also

centred on the same line if space allows

A new line starting in cell running over into cell is taken when print takes a

paragraph this normally only o ccurs in analysis

Game moves are brailled starting in cell with runovers also in cell More than one

pair of numbered moves may b e brailled on one line If the game is b eing taken up after

analysis with blacks move then the movenumber is given followed after a space by dots

A full stop is not needed after the movenumb er Eg

 g

Black knight to g

Analysis is not to b e put in brackets but ends with a full stop after normal English text

if the analysis ends with a chess move then no full stop is needed Where print uses brackets

within annotation then braille should do the same A further level of brackets should b e

brailled as square brackets In complex annotations with several layers of brackets an

op ening and closing short dash may b e used for clarity to replace the rd level of brackets

DIAGRAMS

Diagrams are brailled using the Forsyth system The p ositions of the pieces and pawns

are given rank by rank with a space separating each rank starting from the A square

and nishing at the H square Pieces and pawns are indicated by their abbreviations see

list black pieces b eing distinguished by the addition of dot in the same cell The

number of vacant squares on each rank is shown as a lower numb er without the numeral

sign Where more than one empty rank o ccurs consecutively the number of vacant squares

is shown as one group Eg at the start of the game the p osition would b e

Diagrams are laid out as follows

If the diagram o ccurs during the main game the word Diagram or Diagram n

followed by a colon is brailled in cell

The diagram itself starts in cell of a new line with runovers also in cell

All diagrams are repro duced in chess b o oks

Text resumes on the next line following the rules given in x

Where helpful diagrams are numb ered within a game

PROBLEMS

An intro ductory comment to a problem is brailled as a paragraph and the p osition

and numb er of the problem if present is in cell with runovers in cell

centred commas separate the problem from the solution

The solution is brailled as a line paragraph or paragraphs

When a solution ends with a move a full stop is not needed

EXAMPLE

This is example given in braille in b oth the algebraic notation P and in the

descriptive notation P

RG

VelimirovicM i rall es

Vrsac

e e f f e d f e d f d e d

is safer c c c This move gives White a space advantage Black

should try c planning b d e and f which is the wayPetrosian and

Smyslov sometimes handled this p osition d f d d Blacks idea

lo oks awkwardp erhaps  d d bd was a b etter try a

f f h d  g is weak g g f fe

b f g g h e e g fe fe

e Whites queen will prove stronger than Blacks ro oks Even  f e

f f ad g f gh e e fe g or  d

g e f h fe and the sacrice on g yields nothing  g

e with a strong initiative dont seem b etter e e g g

Black cannot connect the ro oks with  ae b ecause of b d g g

f e e f b An attempt to activate Blacks pieces On

 d it is p ossible to play f e f b f f f

b g d h h g threatening e f d h

e e There is no other defence against e f b h ft

f f e e fe g

The invasion of the queen is decisive On  f h g g f e

f  e f mate e and White wins a e h

e g d b g d e f d

f c b a g d e d Black resigned

#G#A4 EXAMPLE ( ALGEBRAIC NOT,N4 VELIMIROVIC--MIRALLES VRSAC #AIHI 7#E7 1 E4 E5 2 SF3 SF6 3 S;E5 D6 4 SF3 S;E4 5 D3 SF6 6 D4 LE7 6 -D5 IS SAF]4 7 C4 JJ 8 SC3 C5>86 ? MV GIVES :T A SPACE ADVANTAGE4 BK %D TRY 8 -C6>1 PLANN+ ,SBD7>1 ,RE8 & ,SF8>1 : IS ! WAY PETROSIAN & SMYSLOV "S"TS H&L$ ? POSI;N4 9 D5 LF5 10 LD3 QD7 BK'S IDEA LOOKS AWKW>D--P]H 10 -L;D3 11 Q;D3 SBD7 0 A BETT] TRY4 11 JJ SA6 12 L;F5 Q;F5 13 SH4 QD7 13 -QG4 IS W1K2 14 Q;G4 S;G4 15 SF5 RFE8 16 SB5>P 14 QF3 G6 15 LG5 SH5 16 L;E7 Q;E7 17 G3 RFE8 18 RFE1>6 Q_E1 :T'S ,Q W PROVE /R;G] ?AN BK'S ,RR>4 EV5 18 -QF6 19 SE4 Q;F3 20 S;F3 RAD8 21 G4 F5 22 G;H5 R;E4 23 R;E4 F;E4 24 SG5 OR 18 -QD7 19 G4 719 SE4 F5>6 20 Q;H5 F;E4>1 &! ON ,G6 YIELDS NO?+7 19 -SG7 20 SE4>1 )A /R;G 9ITIATIVE1 DON'T SEEM BETT]4 19 R;E1 R_E1 20 KG2 SG7

13 BK _C 3NECT ! ,RR ) 20 -RAE8 2C ( 21 SB5 RD8 22 G4 SG7 23 QF6 21 SE4 SE8 22 QF4 SB4 AN ATTEMPT 6ACTIVATE BK'S PIECES4 ON 22 -RD8 X IS POSSI# 6PLAY 23 SF3 RE2 24 KF1>6 R;B2 25 S^F6 S;F6 26 Q;F6 R^B1 27 KG2 RD7 28 H4 H5 29 SG5>1 ?R1T5+ 30 SE6 23 SF3>6 SD3 24 QH4 RE2 25 KF1>6 R;B2 26 QH6 F6 7ONLY MV7 27 QE3 SE5 "! IS NO O!R DEF;E AG/ 28 S_F6 S;F6 29 Q^E6 28 S;E5 F;E5 29 QG5>6 DIAGRAM3 (3!1U1 &&5& 3&2&1 2&P&1Q1 2P1S3 6P1 P(3P1P 5K2 ! 9VA.N (! ,Q IS DECISIVE4 ON 29 -KF7 30 QH6 KG8 31 SG5 SF6 32 SE6 R_F2 732 -SE8 33 QF8 MATE7 33 KE1>1 & :T W9S4 29 -A5 30 QE7 H6 31 Q^E6 KG7 32 S;D6 R^B1 33 KG2 S;D6 34 Q_E5 KF7 35 Q;D6 RF8 36 Q;C5 RB2 37 A4 KG8 38 QD4 RE2 39 D6 BK RESIGN$4 111111111111

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

15 II5 RQ1 22 PKI4 II2 23 QB6 21 IK4 IK1 22 QB4 II5 AN ATTEMPT 6ACTIVATE BK'S PIECES4 ON 22 -RQ1 X IS POSSI# 6PLAY 23 IKB3 RK7 24 KB1>6 RXP 25 IB6>* IXI 26 QXI RI8>* 27 KI2 RQ2 28 PKR4 PKR4 29 II5>1 ?R1T5+ 30 IK6 23 IKB3>6 IQ6 24 QR4 RK7 25 KB1>6 RXIP 26 QR6 PB3 7ONLY MV7 27 QK3 IK4 "! IS NO O!R DEF;E AG/ 28 IXP>* IXI 29 QK6>* 28 IXI BPXI 29 QI5>6 DIAGRAM3 (3[1U1 &&5& 3&2&1 2&P&1Q1 2P1I3 6P1 P(3P1P 5K2 ! 9VA.N (! ,Q IS DECISIVE4 ON 29 -KB2 30 QR6 KI1 31 II5 IB3 32 IK6 RXP>* 732 -IK1 33 QB8 MATE7 33 KK1>1 & :T W9S4 29 -PQR4 30 QK7 PR3 31 QK6>* KI2 32 IXQP RI8>* 33 KI2 IXI 34 QXKP>* KB2 35 QXI RKB1 36 QXBP RI7 37 PQR4 KI1 38 QQ4 RK7 39 PQ6 BK RESIGN$4 333333333333

16