Notation System
Notation by Coordinates or Algebraic System (numbers and letters)
Like in the game “Battleship”, all the squares have their Coordinates to identify them.
Coordinates of the Board
In order to recognize the different squares of a Board, a letter is given to each File beginning from the left with the letter “a” on the left hand side of the player who has white pieces. Each Row is numbered beginning with 1 from the Row nearest to the player with the white pieces
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Each Piece is named after its initial letter, except the Knight. “K” is used for the King. So the knight uses “N”, its second letter
| The King |  | K |
| The Queen |  | Q |
| The Rook |  | R |
| The Bishop |  | B |
| The Knight |  | N |
| The Pawn |  | P |
Pawn
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Pawn: In the case of a Pawn it is not necessary to write the initial P or to insert the symbol Diagram shows a Pawn that has advanced through the ¨e¨ file. This move is written: This last notation also mentions the piece’s square of origin. |
A move
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White wishes to place his Queen on the square marked “h7” |
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White has moved his |
In order to ¨ identify ¨ the move made, this System uses the following formula
| INITIAL | LETTER | NUMBER |
| of the Piece moved | of the file | of the row |
| Dama o | h | 7 |
For instance 1. Qh7 or 1. h7 means that the has been moved to the Seventh Row of the “h” File.
A Promotion
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White can move his Pawn to the eighth rank. If White promotes the “g” Pawn and chooses a Queen, the move would be |
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1. e8= Q+ or 1. e8= |
A Capture
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If White captures the Ra8 with the Be4 the move would be |
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1. Bxa8 or 1. |
Possibility of Capturing with two Identical Pieces
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In this case, the piece that really moves has to be identified in the following order |
I. The File is Mentioned
If we capture on e4, we have to write gxe4 or cxe4 as may correspond.
| 1st. Case: gxe4 | 2nd Case: 1. cxe4 |
|---|---|
 |  |
II. The Row is Mentioned
If we capture on e4 the move would be: 1xe4 or 7xe4, as may correspond
| 1st. Case: 1xe4 | 2nd Case: 1. 7xe4 |
|---|---|
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The “x” sign is sometimes omitted in the captures in the Algebraic System because it is implicit.
IMPORTANT
This is the Official Notation. It is used to record information of the progress of a game, but there is also a lot of chess literature written in another system, called Descriptive Notation. This system is seen in old teaching books or in books about old tournaments.