Contents
Why record games
Writing down the moves — notation — lets you save a game, analyse your mistakes and replay the games of champions from a book. In tournaments you must record your own moves.
Notation is based on the square coordinates: each square has a name made of a letter and a number, for example e4.
Piece symbols
| Piece | English | Russian | German |
|---|---|---|---|
| King | K | Кр | K |
| Queen | Q | Ф | D |
| Rook | R | Л | T |
| Bishop | B | С | L |
| Knight | N | К | S |
| Pawn | not shown | not shown | not shown |
On this site the moves are shown in the notation of the page's language.
Short algebraic notation
You write the piece letter and the square it moved to. For a pawn, just the square.
- e4 — a pawn moved to e4;
- Nf3 — a knight moved to f3;
- Bb5 — a bishop moved to b5.
A capture is marked with an x: Bxc6 — the bishop captured a piece on c6; exd5 — the pawn from the e-file captured on d5.
If two identical pieces can go to the same square, add the file or rank they came from: Rad1, N1d2.
Moves are numbered in pairs: first White's move, then Black's.
1. 2. 3.
To write only Black's move, put an ellipsis after the number: 3… a6.
Long algebraic notation
In long notation you also write the square the piece came from: 1. e2–e4 e7–e5 2. Ng1–f3 Nb8–c6. A capture is marked with an x instead of the dash: Bb5xc6. Long notation is easier for beginners, so many chess schools start with it.
Special signs
| Sign | Meaning |
|---|---|
| + | check |
| # | checkmate |
| O-O | kingside castling |
| O-O-O | queenside castling |
| e8=Q | pawn promotes to a queen |
| ! | strong move |
| ? | mistake |
| !! | brilliant move |
| ?? | blunder |
| !? | interesting move |
| ?! | dubious move |
The result of a game is written as 1–0 (White wins), 0–1 (Black wins) or ½–½ (draw).
Try it yourself
Open the analysis board and play through: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5. If you end up with White's bishop on c4 and Black's on c5, you can read notation.