One of the reasons why chess has such an extensive literature is the ease with which chess games and analysis can be written down. In turn, this means that chess is ideally placed to become increasingly important in the information age, since the symbols used to record chess moves are normal letters and numbers. The moves of thousands of games can be downloaded in seconds, and the only constraint on playing chess online is the connection time – the few bytes needed to convey a chess move can be transmitted in a tiny fraction of a second.
The form of notation used in this book is called algebraic notation. I have largely assumed that readers will already be familiar with this notation, since it is the standard in chess books and newspaper columns, and computers use algebraic, or at least a modified form of it. Moreover, it is very easy to learn algebraic notation.
In this familiar diagram, each square has a unique name, defined by the two coordinates shown around the edge of the diagram. Thus in the initial position, as shown, the white king is on e1, and the black queen’s knight on b8. In every diagram in this book (for maximum ease of reference) and on many chess boards these coordinates are given. However, in most books they are not given, so it is worth committing them to memory.
The conventions by which moves are defined are not complicated, and it is possible to get by if you just know the first two, and otherwise use common sense.
1) A move is indicated simply by a single capital letter for the piece that is moving, followed by the square on which it arrives. Example: Ne4 denotes a knight moving to e4.
2) If a pawn moves, then only the arrival square is given. Example: e4 denotes a pawn moving to e4.
3) A check is indicated by a plus sign (+) after the move. Example: Qe5+ denotes a queen moving to e5, and giving check.
4) A capture is indicated by a multiplication sign (or simply a letter x) before the arrival square. Example: Bxb5 denotes a bishop making a capture on b5.
5) When more than one piece of the same type can move to a particular square, the file is given if this is sufficient to identify the piece that is moving. The additional letter is always placed immediately after the letter for the piece, before any capture symbol. Examples: Nde4 denotes a knight moving from a square on the d-file to e4, when there is a knight on a different file that could also move to e4; Ndxe4 would be the notation if a capture took place on e4.
6) When more than one piece of the same type on the same file can move to a particular square, the number of the rank is given if this is sufficient to identify the piece that is moving. The additional number is placed immediately after the letter for the piece, before any capture symbol. Example: R1d5 denotes a rook moving from d1 to d5, when there is another rook on the d-file that could move to d5. Note: in exceptionally rare circumstances, both the rank and file are needed to specify which piece is moving. In this case the letter for the file is given before the number for the rank, e.g. Qa8xd5.
7) Pawn captures are shown by giving the file on which the pawn starts, followed by the capture sign, and finally the square on which the capture is made. Example: exf5 denotes a pawn from the e-file making a capture on f5.
8) Odds and ends: checkmate is shown by # after the move; en passant capture is shown just as if it were a normal pawn capture on the square where the pawn arrives; promotion by putting the new piece after the pawn’s move, e.g. exd8Q+ signifies a pawn from the e-file capturing on d8, promoting to a queen and giving check; castling is shown by 0-0 for the kingside version or 0-0-0 for queenside castling.
When the moves of a game are written down, there is a number placed before each move by White. The move by Black follows the one by White. Example: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 is a possible sequence of four moves by each side from the start position, resulting in the following position:
If a move by Black is given without the move by White preceding it, then three dots are placed before the move by Black to signify the missing move by White. Thus one would say that Black’s second move in this example was 2...Nc6.
In printed books, figurines are often used for the pieces, instead of letters. These are little pictograms, similar to those used in chess diagrams for the white pieces. But when one needs to write down chess moves by hand, such as when playing a game of competitive chess, it is obviously impractical to draw out little shapes of the pieces. In English the letters are: K (king), Q (queen), R (rook), B (bishop) and N (knight). In the past Kt was once used for knight, but this is obsolete.
In long algebraic, as used in some books and newspaper columns, the square from which the piece is departing is always given in full, and a dash placed between the departure and arrival squares (unless it is a capture, in which case the standard “x” is used).
For several centuries algebraic was not universally used by chess players, since another form of chess notation was prevalent in English-speaking countries. This was the so-called “descriptive notation”, which is used by some players to this day.
In descriptive notation, each file has a unique name, just as in algebraic, but the name is given by the piece that starts the game on that file. Thus:
| a-file | = | QR-file |
| b-file | = | QN-file |
| c-file | = | QB-file |
| d-file | = | Q-file |
| e-file | = | K-file |
| f-file | = | KB-file |
| g-file | = | KN-file |
| h-file | = | KR-file |
However, the number attached to this to give a coordinate for a particular square is different depending on whose viewpoint is being taken. The square on the queen’s file that is closest to White (d1) is known as Q1 to White, but for Black is called Q8, since it is the eighth square from him. Likewise, White’s KB3 is Black’s KB6, and so on. Moves are denoted according to the following method:
1) First the name of the piece in question (in full, e.g. QN, KBP) is written, followed by a hyphen, followed by the square to which the piece is moving, as seen by the player making the move. Example: QN-KB4 denotes either White’s queen’s knight (the one that started life on b1) moving to the fourth square from White’s side of the board on the KB-file (i.e. f4 in algebraic) or Black’s queen’s knight (the one that started life on b8) moving to the fourth square from Black’s side of the board on the KB-file (i.e. f5 in algebraic).
2) If the move is a capture, then the move is given as the piece moving, followed by the captures symbol (x) and then the piece that is being captured. Example: KRxQNP denotes either White’s king’s rook (the one that started life on h1) capturing a black pawn on the QN-file (b-file) or Black’s king’s rook (the one that started life on h8) capturing a white pawn on the QN-file (b-file).
3) Checks are denoted in the same way as for algebraic notation.
4) Obviously, this scheme leads to a lot of redundancies in the notation, so any really excessive clarification is omitted. Thus the move KRxQBP would be written simply RxP if there are no other moves by which a rook can capture a pawn, or RxBP if there are several pawns that can be captured by a rook, but only one way in which it can be a bishop’s pawn.
It is this omission of redundant codes, so necessary if the notation is to be even vaguely concise, that leads to confusions with the notation. Firstly, there are often several equally valid ways in which a move can be written (e.g. KN-B4 and N-KB4 might be one and the same move, and equally efficient ways of expressing it), and, since deciding how to write down a move requires some thought and alertness, it is very easy to forget to give enough clarification.