What is Algebraic Chess Notation?

Algebraic chess notation is used to record and describe the moves in a game of chess. It is now standard among all chess organizations and most books, magazines, and newspapers. In English speaking countries, it replaced the parallel system of descriptive chess notation, which became common in the 19th century, and was sporadically used as recently as the 1980s or 1990s. European countries other than England were using algebraic notation before the familiar form of descriptive became common.^[1]

Algebraic notation exists in various forms and languages, as will be described below.

Naming squares on the board

Each square of the chessboard is identified with a unique pair of a letter and a number. The vertical files are labelled a through h, from White's left (i.e. the queenside) to his right. Similarly, the horizontal ranks are numbered from 1 to 8, starting from White's home rank. Each square of the board, then, is uniquely identified by its file letter and rank number. The white king, for example, starts the game on square e1. The black knight on b8 can move to a6 and c6.

Naming the pieces

Each type of piece (other than pawns) is identified by an uppercase letter, usually the first letter in the name of that piece in whatever language is spoken by the player recording. 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). S was also used for the knight in the early days of algebraic notation, from the German Springer (this is still used in chess problems, where N stands for the popular fairy chess piece, the nightrider).

Players may use different letters in other languages. For example, French players use F for bishop (from fou). In chess literature written for an international audience, the language-specific letters are replaced by universal icons for the pieces, producing Figurine notation.

Pawns are not indicated by a letter, but by the absence of such a letter—it is not necessary to distinguish between pawns for normal moves, as only one pawn can move to any one square (captures are indicated differently; see below).

Notation for moves

Each move of a piece is indicated by the piece's letter, 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—no initial in the case of pawn moves). In some publications, the pieces are indicated by graphical representations rather than by initials: for example, ♞c6. This is called figurine algebraic notation or FAN and has the advantage of being language independent.

Notation for captures

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). Sometimes when it is unambiguous, a pawn capture is indicated only by the files, e.g. exd, ed5 or ed.

A colon (:) is sometimes used instead of an x, either in the same place the x would go (B:e5) or after the move (Be5:). En passant captures (see pawn) are specified by the capturing pawn's file of departure, the x, and the square to which it moves (not the location of the captured pawn), optionally followed by the notation "e.p." It is never necessary to specify that a capture was en passant because a capture from the same file but not en passant would have a different destination square. Within the SAN (Standard Algebraic Notation) standard, the "x" capture indication is always required while the "e.p." en passant move suffix indication is always forbidden.

Some texts, such as the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, omit indications that a capture has been made.

Disambiguating moves

If two (or more) identical pieces can move to the same square, the piece's initial is followed by (in descending order of preference):

1. the file of departure if they differ;
2. the rank of departure if the files are the same but the ranks differ;
3. Both the rank and file if neither alone uniquely defines the piece (after a pawn promotion, if three or more of the same piece able to reach the square).

For example, with two knights on g1 and d2, either of which might move to f3, the move is indicated as Ngf3 or Ndf3, as appropriate. With two knights on g5 and g1, the moves are N5f3 or N1f3. As above, an x may be used to indicate a capture: for example, N5xf3.

Pawn promotion

If a pawn moves to its last rank, achieving promotion, the piece chosen is indicated after the move, for example e1Q, b8B. Sometimes an "=" sign or parentheses are used: f8=Q or f8(Q), but neither is a FIDE standard. (The "=" sign is in fact used to represent the offer of a draw.) Pawn Promotions can also be found with a "/" symbol in older books. For example f8/Q could be used to explain a promotion of a Queen.

Castling

Castling is indicated by the special notations 0-0 for kingside castling and 0-0-0 for queenside (note that while this is what the FIDE Handbook uses, PGN requires O-O and O-O-O instead). Optionally, it may be indicated by the king's move alone, since moving the king more than one square implies castling. For example, Kg1.

Check and checkmate

A move which places the opponent's king in check usually has the notation "+" added. Some use †. (Sometimes ch is used to indicate check.) Double check is sometimes represented "++". Checkmate can likewise be indicated "#" (some use "++" instead, but the United States Chess Federation recommends "#"). Sometimes ‡ is used. The word 'mate' written at the end of the notation is also acceptable.

End of game

The notation 1-0 at the end of the moves indicates that white won, 0-1 indicates that black won, and ½-½ indicates a draw. Often there is no special indication of how a player won (other than checkmate, see above), so simply "1-0" or "0-1" may be written to show that one player resigned. Sometimes the word "Resigns" (or "White resigns" or "Black resigns" as appropriate) is used to show this.

Example

Moves are generally written in one of two ways.

(1) written in two columns, as a white/black pair, preceded by the move number and a period:

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bb5 a6

(2) in text: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6.

Moves may be interspersed with text. When the score resumes with a black move, an ellipsis (...) takes the place of the white move, for example:

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3

Black now defends his pawn'''

2. ... Nc6

3. Bb5 a6

An ellipsis is also used when a score starts with a Black move (when the score is not of a complete game but starts from a diagrammed position). However, helpmates usually use an opposite convention; Black moves first by default and White moves are indicated with an ellipsis if no Black move precedes.

Naming the pieces in various languages

Here are names for all the pieces as well as the words for "chess", "check", and "checkmate" in several languages:^[2]

Language	King	Queen	Rook	Bishop	Knight	Pawn	Chess	Check	Checkmate
figurine	♔ ?	♕ ?	♖ ?	♗ ?	♘ ?	♙ ?	...	+	#
Arabic	?	?	?	ف?	ح?
Catalan	R rei	D dama/reina	T torre	A alfil	C cavall	(P) pe		Escac, Xec	Escac i mat
Chinese	K 王''	Q 后''	R 車''	B 象''	N 馬''	兵''		將?	將?
Czech	K krl	D dma	V vě	S střelec''	J jezdec''	(P) pěšec''		Šach	Mat
Danish	K konge''	D dronning''	T trn''	L lber''	S springer''	(B) bonde''		Skak	Skakmat
Dutch	K koning''	D dame''	T toren''	L loper''	P paard''	pion		Schaak	Mat
English	K king''	Q queen''	R rook''	B bishop''	N/Kt knight''	(P) pawn''		Check	Checkmate
Esperanto	R reĝo''	D damo''	T turo''	K kuriero''	Ĉ ĉevalo''	(P) peono''		Ŝak
Estonian	K kuningas''	L lipp''	V vanker''	O oda''	R ratsu''	(E) ettur''	Male	šahh
Finnish	K kuningas''	D kuningatar/daami''	T torni''	L lhetti''	R ratsu''	(S) sotilas''	shakki	shakki	shakkimatti/matti
French	R roi''	D dame''	T tour''	F fou''	C cavalier''	(P) pion''		chec	chec et mat
German	K Knig''	D Dame''	T Turm''	L Lufer''	S Springer''	(B) Bauer''		Schach	Schachmatt
Greek	Ρ βασιλιάς''	Β βασίλισσα''	Π πύργος''	Α αξιωματικός''	Ι ίππος''	(Π) πιόνι			Mάt
Hebrew	מל?	מלכ?	צריח	ר?	פר?	רגל?		ש?	מ?
Hungarian	K kirly''	V vezr''	B bstya''	F fut''	H huszr''	(P) gyalog/paraszt''		Sakk	Matt
Icelandic	K kngur''	D drottning''	H hrkur''	B biskup''	R riddari''	(P) pe''	Skk, tafl	Skk	Skk og mt
Indonesian	R raja''	M menteri''	B benteng''	G gajah''	K kuda''	(P) pion''	Catur	Skak
Irish	R r''	B banron''	C caiseal''	E easpag''	D ridire''	(F) fichilln/ceithearnach''		Sinn	Marbhshinn
Japanese	キング	クイーン	ルーク	ビショップ	ナイト	ポーン		王?
Korean	K 킹''	Q 퀸''	R 룩''	B 비숍''	N 나이트''	(P) 폰''
Italian	R re''	D donna''	T torre''	A alfiere''	C cavallo''	(P) pedone''		Scacco	Scacco matto
Latin	K rex''	Q regina''	R turris''	B episcopus''	N eques''	(P) pedes''		Scaccus	Mattus
Lithuanian	K karalius''	V valdovė''	B bokštas''	R rikis''	Ž žirgas''	(P) pėstininkas''		Šach	Matas
Luxembourgish	K kinnek''	D damm''	T tuerm''	L leefer''	P perd''	(B) bauer''		Schach	Schachmatt
Norwegian	K konge''	D dronning''	T trn''	L lper''	S springer''	(B) bonde''		Sjakk	Sjakkmatt
Polish	K krl''	H hetman''	W wieża''	G goniec''	S skoczek''	(P) pion''		Szach	Mat
Portuguese	R rei''	D dama (formely rainha)''	T torre''	B bispo''	C cavalo''	(P) peo''		Xeque	Mate
Romanian	R rege''	D regină''	T turn''	N nebun''	C cal''	(P) pion''		Şah	Mat
Russian	Кр король''	Ф ферзь''	Л ладья''	С слон''	К конь''	(П) пешка''		Ша?	Мат
Sicilian	R re''	D riggina''	T turru''	A alferu''	S scecchu''	(P) pidinu''
Slovakian	K krľ''	D dma''	V veža''	S strelec''	J jazdec''	(P) pešiak''		Šach
Slovene	K kralj''	D dama''	T trdnjava''	L lovec''	S skakač''	(P) kmet''		Šah	Mat / Šahmat
Spanish	R rey''	D dama/reina''	T torre''	A alfil''	C caballo''	(P) pen''		Jaque	Jaque mate
Swedish	K kung''	D dam''	T torn''	L lpare''	S springare''	(B) bonde''		Schack	Schack matt
Turkish	Ş/K şah/kral''	V vezir''	K kale''	F fil''	A at''	(P) asker/piyon''		Şah	Mat
Ukrainian	Kр король''	D королева''	T тура''	C слон''	K кінь''	(П) пішак''		Ша?	Мат
Welsh	T teyrn/brenin''	B brenhines''	C castell''	E esgob''	M marchog''	G gwerinwr''		Siach	Siachmat

Similar notations

PGN

Chess games are often stored in computer files using Portable Game Notation (PGN),^[3] which uses algebraic chess notation as well as additional markings to describe a game.

Long algebraic notation

Some computer programs (and people) use a variant of algebraic chess notation, termed long algebraic notation or fully expanded algebraic notation. In fully expanded algebraic notation, moves include both the starting and ending squares separated by a hyphen: for example, "e2-e4" or "Nb1-c3". Captures are indicated with "x" instead of a hyphen: "Rd3xd7". This notation takes more space and thus is not as commonly used. However it has the advantage of clarity, particularly for less skilled players or players learning the game.

Some books using primarily short algebraic notation use the long notation instead of the disambiguation forms.

Numeric notation

In international correspondence chess the use of algebraic notation may cause confusion, since different languages have different names (and therefore different initials) for the pieces; hence the standard for transmitting moves in this form of chess is ICCF numeric notation.

Common shorthand notation

Main article: Punctuation (chess)

The following short-hand notations are frequently used to comment moves:

• ! a good move
• !! an excellent move
• ? a mistake
• ?? a blunder
• !? an interesting move that may not be best
• ?! a dubious move, but not easily refuted
• □ only move

and many others.

Notes

See also

• Descriptive chess notation

External links

• FIDE rules on algebraic notation (see appendix E)
• notation website