When I started diving into chess to really understand the game I did not understand the algebraic notations but they are explained here. I noticed that these funny notations were used to quickly make a report of chess games between people. This way you can follow and reinact the game to learn from them. Also it is used for people to do correspondence chess which is an old way of playing chess over the mail. Allow me to give you a bit more indepth knowlegd of these notations that are called Algebraic Notation.
Why use algebraic notations?
Algebraic notation allows players to easily record games, study famous matches, and communicate strategies. Once you get familiar with the basics, the use of algebraic notations becomes a second nature and it helps you improve your understanding of chess. By learning algebraic notation, you unlock the world of chess literature, puzzles, and analysis tools, all of which rely on this system to get this information and knowledge across to anyone who wants to learn more. It pretty much is the standard in communicating about any recorded chess game or to share thought and ideas of a chess game that is going on which you are a spectator.
The board explained
The chessboard consists of 64 squares arranged in 8 rows (which are called ranks) and 8 columns (which are called files). The ranks are numbered 1 to 8 from White’s perspective (the rank closest to White is 1, and the one closest to Black is 8). The files are labeled from a to h, from left to right from White’s perspective.
Each square has a unique coordinate based on its file and rank. For example, the square in the bottom-left corner (closest to White) is a1, while the top-right corner (closest to Black) is h8.
Pieces and their notation
In algebraic notation each chess piece is represented by a letter:
- K = King
- Q = Queen
- R = Rook
- B = Bishop
- N = Knight (This is to aviod confusion with the “K” for King)
- Pawns don’t get a letter (they are identified just by their move).
Basic moves
To record a move, you combine the piece’s letter and the square it moves to. So to be clear there is no notation from the start, only a notation to the square a piece moves to. For example:
- Nf3: The knight moves to the square f3.
- Qd5: The queen moves to the square d5.
- e4: A pawn moves to the square e4 (no letter is used for pawns).
Captures
When a piece captures another, you add an “x” between the piece and the square. For example:
- Bxe5: A bishop captures a piece on the square e5.
- Nxd4: A knight captures a piece on d4.
- exd5: A pawn on the e-file captures a piece on d5. (Pawns make use of the files to better understand which pawn captures a piece)
Castling
If a player chooses to castle it will have a very specific notation. There are two types of castling in chess:
- Kingside castling: O-O (so the shortest castle move which consists of 4 squares)
- Queenside castling: O-O-O (the longest castle move which consists of 5 squares)
In castling, the king moves two squares toward the rook, and the rook moves to the square next to the king.
Pawn promotion
When a pawn reaches the eighth rank (the exact opposite side of the board from where it started), it gets promoted to another piece (which is usually a queen but that is not an obligated choice. You can pick any piece you want). To notate this, you write the move and the piece it’s promoted to. For example:
- e8=Q: A pawn moves to e8 and becomes a queen.
Checks and checkmates
- + indicates check. For example, Qd5+ means the queen moves to d5 and checks the king.
- # indicates checkmate. For example, Qf7# means the queen moves to f7 and checkmates the king.
Special situations
- En passant: When a pawn captures another pawn “en passant,” the move is recorded like a normal capture, noting the square where the captured pawn was. For example, exd6 e.p. means a pawn on the e-file captures a pawn on d6 en passant.
- Ambiguous moves: If two of the same type of pieces can move to the exact same square it is needed to add more information to understand which of both pieces moved to the square. In these kind of situations you simply add the file or the rank of the moving piece. For example:
- Nbd2: The knight from the b-file moves to d2.
- R1a3: The rook on the first rank moves to a3.
Game results
- 1-0: White wins due to the indication to the left as White always starts.
- 0-1: Black wins due to the indication tot the right.
- ½-½: Draw.
Sample game in algebraic notation
Here’s a simple example:
- e4 e5
- Nf3 Nc6
- Bb5 a6
- Ba4 Nf6
In this sequence:
- White opens by moving a pawn to e4.
- Black responds with a pawn to e5.
- White develops a knight to f3, attacking the e5 pawn.
- Black mirrors this by developing the knight to c6.
- White develops the bishop to b5, creating pressure on Black’s knight.
- Black plays a6, attacking the bishop.
Hopefully the above explained the algebraic notations in chess. If you have any questions feel free to let me know.