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How To...? Guides

  • How to use Chess Notation

   There are benefits in having the ability to record Chess Matches move by move. It allows replay for demonstration, education, entertainment, exhibition, historical record etc.
For serious competitions, it is a legal requirement.
   There is the option for post-match analysis either by human audience or by Chess Engine with any amount computing power to provide answers and insight into how the game was won or lost.
  For the personal player, it provides the opportunity for improvement by being able to replay through, analyse, prescribe and discuss potential solutions so that next time, better play is made.

Therefore a universal notation language is required so that any Chess Player can understand and accurately replay any recorded Chess match.

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  • Coordinate Notation

Fortunately there are a number of existing Notations used throughout the History of Chess.

First and the most simplest is the Coordinate Notation.

This basically assigns each square on the Chessboard a fixed designation based on its File & Rank location on the Board ranging from letters A-H for Files and Numbers 1-8 for Ranks.

 Each move by both sides is written as in a numerical list and simply states the move's Starting square then Destination Square. It's simplicity is that the actual value and type of the pieces are ignored and only the squares involved are recorded. It is assumed, following the basic rules of Chess, that any Destination Square which is occupied by an Opponent's Piece represents a capture which does not require any explanation.

So for example, here are the first 5 moves from the Sicilian Defence-Najdorf Variation :-

1. E2-E4 C7-C5
2. G1-F3 D7-D6
3. D2-D4 C5-D4
4. F3-D4 G8-F6
5. B1-C3 A7-A6
 

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  • Descriptive Notation

Although simple and easy enough to follow, the Coordinate Notation  does not provide much insight into what is happening in the game unless the reader is following each move precisely on an accompanying Chessboard or is proficient at Blindfold Chess.

So another traditional notation method used and still can be found in many older Chess books from Pre-21st Century is the Descriptive Notation.

Here, the coordinate system is re-labelled with the Files designation based on the Starting Piece associated with that File and the Ranks are counted up from each Player's point of view up the board.

First, the Chessboard is divided lengthways into the Kingside and the Queenside, based on those Pieces Starting Squares.
 

Then each Square on the Chessboard is given a Designated Label based on its position on the board, relative to the Starting Piece and the Player.

Here each letter represents a Piece :-

K - King
Q - Queen
R - Rook
B - Bishop
Kt - Knight
P - Pawn

So as the Starting Pieces' locations are always fixed, the File Labels are always the same. From each Player's point of view, the Ranks count up the Board from 1 to 8.
So White's K4 Square is the equivalent of Black's K5 Square, White's QB5 Square is the equivalent of Black's QB4 Square and White's KKt1 Square is the equivalent of Black's KKt8 Square.

In Descriptive Notation, each move is listed as the Piece moved followed by the Destination Square. Captures are explicitly listed using the X keyword and against the Piece rather than the Square.

So from the previous example of the first 5 moves of the Sicilian Defence-Najdorf Variation :-

1. P-K4 P-QB4
2. Kt-KB3 P-Q3
3. P-Q4 PxP
4. KtxP Kt-KB3
5. Kt-QB3 P-QR3 

Ambigous Pieces can be differentiated by using the File or Square designation.
For example QB5KtxQP.

Further symbols written after the directly after the move indicate special situations :-

+ - Check.
++ - Checkmate.
! - Good Move.
? - Blunder.
e.p. - Capture by En Passant

e.g. 10. R-K8+ or PxP e.p.

O-O - Castles on the  Kingside
O-O-O Castles on the Queenside.

When a pawn reaches the other end of the board, it can be promoted to any piece which is represented by the = keyword.
For example, promoting a Rook Pawn into a Queen: 35. P-QR8=Q

Sometimes when games are recorded in Europe, R is used for the King, D is used for the Queen or Dame, T is used for the Rook or Tower. Also in games post-1944, N is used for the Knight instead of Kt.

Descriptive notation is useful when examining older texts or more traditional Chess books which are still in print or 2nd hand today.

 

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  • Algebraic Notation

Algebraic Notation is used today for modern Chess Matches.

As with Coordinate Notation,  each square on the Chessboard is assigned a fixed designation based on its File & Rank location on the Board ranging from letters A-H for Files and Numbers 1-8 for Ranks.

 Each move by both sides is written as in a numerical list and states what Piece is moving, what it is doing and then Destination Square.

Each Piece is represented by a letter  :-

K - King
Q - Queen
R - Rook
B - Bishop
N - Knight

Normal moves simply write the Piece then the Destination Square;
Captures use the x keyword and then the Destination Square.
Pawns don't need a Piece letter and either indicate the Destination Square for a move or for capturing : the File letter x the Destination Square.

So from the previous example of the first 5 moves of the Sicilian Defence-Najdorf Variation :-

1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6

Notice how cleaner and concise the text is while still conveying what is taking place in the game. Any experienced Chess player will be able to recognise and follow this with ease for a few moves at least.

Ambigous Pieces can be differentiated by using the File or Rank designation.
​For example : Ncxd5 or N1xg3

Further symbols written after the directly after the move indicate special situations :-
+ - Check.
# - Checkmate.
! - Good Move.
? - Blunder.

e.g. 30. Qd8#

O-O - Castles on the  Kingside
O-O-O Castles on the Queenside.

When a pawn reaches the other end of the board, it can be promoted to any piece which is represented by the = keyword.
For example, promoting a Rook Pawn into a Queen: 35. a8=Q

Figurine Notation is similar to Algebraic Notation because the letters used represent the Pieces are replaced with 2D picture symbols of the pieces and is more suited to computer display.

Portable Game Notation .PGN is used by Chess Engines to easily store & read games into file format for recall and analysis. It takes the list of moves written algebraic notation and adds several headers to embellish the information about the Chess match such as :

[Event "World Championship"]
[Site "Worthing Chess Club"] 
[Date "2022.12.16"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Nigel Short"]
[Black "Garry Kasparov"]
 

In any notation format which is used, the end result of the match is recorded in the following manner :-

1-0       : Win for White.
0-1       : Win for Black.
1/2-1/2 : Draw either by Agreement, Stalemate, Three Move/Position Repetition.
*           : Unfinished.
 

©2025 by Worthing Chess Club.

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