Algebraic Chess Notation

Algebraic chess notation Algebraic chess notation is the method used today by all competition chess organizations and most books, magazines, and newspapers to record and describe the play of chess games. It replaced descriptive notation, although the older notation can still be found in older literature. Algebraic chess notation identifies each square of the chessboard with a unique coordinate. The files (the columns of the chessboard) are labelled with lowercase letters a through h, from the left to right (as seen by the white player). So the " a" file is to white's left, and to black's right. The ranks (the rows of the chessboard) are numbered from 1 to 8, starting from white's home rank. Each square of the board is uniquely identified by its letter and number. Each type of piece (other than pawns) is identified by an uppercase letter, usually the first letter in the name of that piece. English-speaking players use K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop, and N for knight (since K is already used). Pawns are not indicated by a letter, but by the absence of a letter. Each move of a piece is indicated by the piece's initial, plus the coordinate of the destination square. For example Be5 (move a bishop to e5 ), Nf3 (move a knight to f3 ), c5 (move a pawn to c5 ). When a piece makes a capture, an x is inserted between the initial and the destination square. For example, Bxe5 (bishop captures the piece on e5 ). When a pawn makes a capture, the file from which the pawn departed is used in place of a piece initial. For example, exd5 (pawn on the e-file captures the piece on d5 ). En passant captures are specified by the capturing pawn's file of departure, the x, and the square to which it moves. Castling is indicated by the special notations O-O (for kingside castling) and O-O-O (queenside). If a pawn moves to its last rank, achieving promotion, the piece chosen is indicated after the move, for example e1=Q , b8=N . To record the result of the game, use “1-0” to indicate white won, “0-1” to indicate black won, and “½– ½” to indicate a draw. A move which places the opponent's king in check may have the notation "+" added. Checkmate can likewise be indicated "#" (some use "++" instead, but the U.S. Chess Federation recommends "#"). If two identical pieces can move to the same square, the piece's initial is followed by: (1) if both pieces are on the same rank, the file of departure; (2) if both pieces are on the same file, the rank of departure. If pieces are on different ranks and files, method (1) is preferred. For example, with two knights on g1 and d2 , either of How do I write down the moves? which might move to f3 , the move is indicated as Ngf3 or Ndf3 , as appropriate. With two knights on g5 and g1 , the The short answer : Write down the moves are N5f3 or N1f3 . As above, an x may be used to indicate a capture: for example, N5xf3 . name of the piece, and the square it moves to. If two pawns can both capture the same piece, the pawn moving is indicated by the file of departure as normal: cxd5 (this might be ambiguous is if one of the captures is en passant , in which case it is noted by appending "e.p.") .

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