Chess Notation

Chess Notation

Chess notation is very important. Without it, no games could be easily recorded, therefore chess books would be all but impossible to have. In chess today, the system of notation used is known as "Algebraic Notation." In this form of notation, the chess board is labeled on the ranks and files with letters and numbers. Here is a picture of how the system is labeled on a chess board.

Note the a-h on the bottom and the 1-8 up the side. These marks create coordinates on the board like a grid. Each square has a coordinate. For example, look at the white king. It lies on the file labeled "e". It's rank is labeled with the number 1. So the square the king stands on is known as "e1". Next, look at the black queen. It is located on the 8th rank and is on the "d" file. The queen's position would be labeled "d8".
Each piece on the board is represented by a letter. This is as follows:

King-"K"
Queen-"Q"
Rook-"R"
Bishop-"B"
Knight-"N"
The pawn has no symbol.

When a piece is moved to a square and does not capture a piece already there, you write the piece's symbol followed by what square it moved to.(ex. N-g5)
When a piece captures another piece, you write an X in between the piece you moved and the square it captured.(ex. Bxh4).
Here is an example of a piece being moved.

Since the pawn has no symbol, this move is notated as "d4".
Now you know the basics of how notation works. Here is some additional Notational symbols that are used:

Castling on the kingside is notated by "0-0"
Queenside castling is written "0-0-0"
When a pawn is promoted, you write the promotion square followed by an "=" and the symbol of the piece you wish to promote to. (ex. a8=Q)
In the event that you move a piece that checks your opponent's king or you are put in check, you put a "+" after the move.(ex. Q-f3+)
When you checkmate you opponent or vise versa, a "#" is written after the move.(ex. Rxg8#)

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