Have you were wondered what all of those wordless combinations of letters and numbers in chess magazines are? Most likely, you were looking at chess notation.
In ordinary life, we speak and write words to convey information to others. Chess is no different. Most chess games involve dozens or even hundreds of moves. Due to the constant changes of position, it is impracticable to draw pictures to show the minute progress on the board move by move. For this reason, several systems of notation have emerged to record these moves in a very compact way.
Before the invention of notation, it must have been very challenging to analyze one’s games because few can remember dozens of moves in prefect order. However, due to the advent of notation, anyone who notates properly can learn from their games and even teach others based on those games. Notation is also an important component of tournament chess, such as being a prerequisite to claim certain draws and a necessity for the sealing of the move in adjournments.
Fortunately, notation is simple, and once you have learned it, is relatively easy to use. Although there are several forms of notation, the most popular form today is algebraic notation. Every square on the chessboard is assigned a two-character code, which is composed of first an undercase letter (a through h) showing the vertical file of the square and second a number (1 through 8) showing the horizontal rank of the square. The following example demonstrates this:
These letters and numbers form the foundation of notation and are always included in the notation of each move. Suppose that black’s pawn on the square g7 (i.e., the pawn just beneath the knight on the kingside) moved forward two squares. You would then write g5 to notate that move because that is the square the pawn landed on, not where it came from. If you were notating on a typical notation sheet, there would be a column for white’s moves and then black’s moves, accompanied by rows of moves, so you would write g5 in the second column. These columns are divided into rows listed by move numbers (i.e., move 1, move 2, etc.) each of which hold white’s and black’s move (both white and black must move on move 1 before anyone can move on move 2), as seen in the example below.
| White | Black |
|---|---|
| e4 | g5 |
| d4 | d5 |
However, pawns are not the only pieces on the board. If you are moving any piece other than a pawn, you need to affix an uppercase letter to the beginning of your move notation. Assuming you are notating in the English language, the following symbols are used to represent the non-pawn pieces on the chessboard:
- K: King
- Q: Queen
- R: Rook
- B: Bishop
- N: Knight
You should be particularly careful about not confusing the king and knight as the knight, despite beginning with a K in English, is notated with a N in algebraic notation. How would this be written? If, on the first move, black had instead moved its kingside knight to g5, he would write Ng5. Likewise, if he did move his pawn on the first move (g5) and then moved his bishop to where the pawn had been, he would write Bg7.
What if two pieces of the same kind can move to the same square? For instance, what if white had a rook on h1 and another rook on f1. As long as none of white’s pieces are on g1, white could move either rook to that square. In this case, white would need to add to his notation which square the rook came from in addition to where it is going. If white moved the rook on h1, he would write Rhg1 (with the h saying where it came from and the g saying where it went). However, you would not add a one to create Rh1g1 because both rooks are on the rank marked as one, and thus, the added one is redundant.
Finally, we should look at the different types of extra symbols you need to use in algebraic notation. All of these symbols are added to the end of the normal notation, unless otherwise noted.
- O-O Castling kingside (substitute for your notation; do not write anything else)
- O-O-O Castling queenside (substitute as above)
- x Captures (add to the start of the notation, not the end)
- + Check
- ++ Checkmate
- = Q Pawn Promotion (if you are promoting to something other than a queen, substitute accordingly, such as = N)
- e.p. en passant
At the end of the notation, it is customary to write 1-0 if white won, 0.5-0.5 if the game was drawn and 0-1 if black won. However, it may suffice to simply write something like “White wins” or circle those words if printed on the notation sheet. Finally, both players may sign each other’s notation sheet to certify to the authenticity thereof, but this is usually not required.
Congratulations! You now have learned how notation works and are ready to apply it to your own games! There is no need anymore to guess what you may or may not have done in your game. Now you will be able to keep a thorough record and learn from your errors. Likewise, you will now not need to miss out on those draws that require notation, such as the fifty move rule or triple repetition of position. Armed with the knowledge of those wordless combinations of letters and numbers, you will hopefully be a much more successful chess player than you previously were. Best wishes!
Credits: The USCF’s Official Rules of Chess (7th Edition), Chapter 3, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebraic_notation_(chess)