Chess notation is the standard way to record the moves of a game. Recording moves on a scoresheet is mandatory in classical tournaments, and you need notation to review your games and to read analysis in books and on websites. The system used worldwide today is algebraic notation.
Naming the squares
Files are lettered a to h from left to right, and ranks are numbered 1 to 8 starting from White's side. Each square is named by its file and rank: the white king starts on e1, the black queen on d8.
Piece letters
- K = king, Q = queen, R = rook, B = bishop, N = knight.
- Pawns have no letter: only the destination square is written, such as e4 or d5.
- Other languages use their own letters; in Turkish, for example, the queen is V and the knight A.
Symbols
- A capture is shown with 'x': Bxe5 (the bishop captured on e5), exd5 (the e-pawn captured on d5).
- Check is '+', checkmate '#': Qh5+, Qxf7#.
- Short castling is O-O, long castling O-O-O.
- Promotion: e8=Q (the pawn promoted to a queen on e8).
- Annotation marks: ! good move, !! brilliant, ? mistake, ?? blunder, !? interesting, ?! dubious.
Disambiguation
If two pieces of the same type can reach the same square, add the departure file or rank. If knights on b1 and f3 can both go to d2, write Nbd2 or Nfd2. For two rooks on the same file use the rank number, such as R1e2.
Writing a game
Moves are numbered, each number covering one White and one Black move: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6. That is the Ruy Lopez. To refer to a Black move alone, use three dots after the number: 3...a6.
What is PGN?
PGN (Portable Game Notation) is the text format used to store chess games on a computer. Player names, date, event and result are stored in tags in square brackets, and the moves in English algebraic notation. Lichess, Chess.com and chess-results export games as PGN, and you can paste an opponent's PGN into mytourneys' Opponent Prep tool to analyse it with Stockfish 19.
💡 Play the move first and then write it down: many federations forbid writing a move before making it on the board.