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Algebraic Notation

Algebraic notation is a relatively new notation compared to some of the other ways of documenting a chess game. It is the only notation that is recognized by the C.F.C. (Chess Federation of Canada) as well as the only notation that you will find at this web site. If you want to learn to record games, this is definitely the notation that you will want to know, and if you learn anything at this web site, this should be it because you'll get SOOO much practice :) Good luck!

Its really a very simple notation and it only takes a little bit of practice to become good at reading it and writing it is a snap with a little bit of practice as well. Perhaps this is why it is so popular. The "code" that is used works like this:

As you now know, a chess board is composed of 64 squares, 32 light and 32 dark which form a larger square which is 8 by 8. Algebraic notation assigns each of these squares a name that it is identified by so that you are able to tell where a particular piece is moving to. If you have ever played battleship, this notation will be a piece of cake. The files (the vertical rows of the chess board) are each assigned a letter (a-h) and each of the ranks (the horizontal rows of the chess board) are each assigned a number (1-8). To find the name of a particular square, you simply add which rank number it's on and which file letter it's on, just like battleship. Take a look at the diagram below.

The only square below which contains a dot is named as square a1.

How did we get that? We took the letter of the rank (the horizontal rows) which is the first one: a. Then, we found out the number of the file it was on: 1. Then we combined the two. a1. Now, let's try something a little bit harder. Try to name each of the squares below. If you get stuck or would like to check your answer, simply hold your mouse over the square for a few seconds to see the answer.

Now, you're probably wondering, "Well, that's great, I can name squares, but how on earth does this help me with algebraic notation? I thought that it was used to tell where pieces go." If you're not thinking that, then please just humour me, I'll probably clear up a few of the questions that you have in answering this one. :) (That colon and bracket, by the way, is known as a smiley. It's called an emoticon (no typos there) and they're used to express emotion, although this has nothing to do with our topic :) ). Anyway, back to our problem. How do we tell how to move the pieces, all we can do is name squares? That's the easy part, all we have to do is put the first letter in the name of the piece in front of where it moves to. So, if you would like to move your bishop to square a4, since bishop starts with a "b", you write the move as Ba4. Note the capital letter to denote the name of the piece. This avoids confusion, differentiating between the piece and the square that it moves to.

In the diagram below, how would the move be recorded, if the piece were to move to the square marked with the dot? (Hint: The piece found on the square is a "rook", so you're recording should begin with an "R")

If you recorded the move as Rc5 give yourself a pat on the back, that is correct. If you didn't get that, go back and look at it again, do you see where you went wrong? Since the piece is a Rook, you must begin the recording of the move with an "R", so, now all that we have left is the square it moves to. The one marked with the dot, as in Battleship, is square c5. So, now we add the two together and we come up with Rc5.

To capture a piece, which you'll learn more about later, you use a "x" in between the piece and the square the opponent piece it captured was on. So, Bxe4 means that the Bishop took the piece that was on e4. Nxf6 is another example. More on capturing in the sections to come.

The one problem that you'll encounter with what you know right now, is that two of the pieces have the same beginning letter, that is the Knight and the King both begin with a "K". So, this could cause confusion with which one of these pieces we are moving if they can each move to the same square, so to avoid this, the King is denoted by a "K" as expected, while the knight is denoted by an "N", dropping the silent "K". So, a Knight move to square e5 is recorded as Ne5, not Ke5 which would refer to the king.

Ok, believe it or not, that's all there is to Algebraic notation, but there are a few curves that I'm going to throw at you now. Assume that in the position below, that White wants to move his knight to c3.

Although you don't know how the pieces move just yet, I can assure you that both of the knights that are present on the board can move to that square, their move pattern you shouldn't be concerned with just yet, all in due time. Now, how would we record this move? We can't simply record the move as Nc3 (It's a Knight), you'll have to add something in to let people who might play out your game which Knight you actually moved. To do this, you simply write the file or rank that the piece originally rested on. So, if we wanted to move the Knight on the left from the position above, it would be recorded as Nac3. The opposite is used when two of the same piece are on the same file, the rank is used, so an example would be N1c3 from the position below.

Other Things to Be Aware of

There are just a few more things that you should know about before moving on to the other sections of the tutorial:

A special move which is known as castling (that you will learn about in the sections to come) is recorded as O-O for the kingside while a queenside castle is recorded as O-O-O. Don't worry if you haven't a clue what I'm talking about, you'll learn about this rule very soon.
Another special move which is known as En Passant, which is also explain later is recorded by writing e.p. after the move. An example would be exd5 e.p. You'll learn move about this move later.
When promoting a pawn, another special rule which you will learn about soon, can be differentiated a number of ways, the most common uses either a "/" or a "=". So, the move would look something like d8=Q or d8/Q. Either way is acceptable
When a king is checked during the game, the move is following by a "+" to show this. Bf6+ is an example
When the game is won, or the opponent king is checkmated, "++" or "#" follows the move. So, Nf6# or Nf6++ are both acceptable. However, be aware that in some chess books you may find ++ to mean something different, a double check (which you'll learn more about later), so if you find this symbol after a move and the game hasn't ended, this may be why.

And that's all there is to it! You've learned a lot of information already, so try to remember as much as you possibly can. If you don't, don't worry, that's why this page is here, just come back when you need a refresher. Just to make sure you've absorbed the whole deal here, I'm going to ask a few questions, or a little quiz if you will. Answer the questions to the best of your ability and see how well you do. The question will be based only on the information in this section of the tutorial. Good luck!

What is the square marked with the dot below named as in algebraic notation?

How is the move below written in algebraic notation? HINT: The piece is known as a "Bishop". Don't forget the capital!

Ok, last one, how is the move below recorded if I want to move the left knight? Remember, it's a Knight, emphasis on the "N"...

Ok, are you all done? That wasn't so hard was it? Now let's take a look at your mark and see how you did. Once again, good luck!

lucky individuals have learned how to play better chess since this page hit the web on 06/28/97.