Chess notation

Chess notation is the term for several systems that have developed to record either the moves made during a game of chess or the position of the pieces on a chess board. The earliest systems of notation used lengthy narratives to describe each move; these gradually evolved into terser systems of notation. Currently algebraic chess notation is the accepted standard, and is widely used. Algebraic notation has a few variations. Descriptive chess notation was used in English and Spanish-language literature until the late 20th century, but is now obsolete. There are some special systems for international correspondence chess. PGN is used when working with computer chess programs.

Recording the moves

Some move-recording notations are designed mainly for use by human players and others for use by computers.

Move notations for humans

Correspondence chess card showing algebraic notation and ICCF notation

In recognized competitions all players are required to record all the moves of both players in order to: resolve disputes about what the position should now be, whether a player has made an illegal move, etc.; keep an accurate count of the moves if, as in most serious competition, there is a time limit rule which requires each players to complete a specified number of moves in a specified time. All chess coaches strongly recommend the recording of one's games so that one can look for improvements in one's play. The algebraic and descriptive notations are also used in books about chess.

• Algebraic chess notation is more compact than the old descriptive chess notation, and is the most widely used method for recording the moves of a game of chess. It has been in use in some regions since the early 1800s, and is less prone to error than the English descriptive system. One of its variants, "short algebraic notation", is now the official standard notation of FIDE which must be used in all recognized international competition involving human players; the U.S. Chess Federation prefers the use of algebraic notation but still permits descriptive notation.

• Standard Algebraic Notation (SAN) is the short notation standardized by FIDE. It omits the starting file and rank of the piece, unless it is necessary to disambiguate the move.
• Figurine Algebraic Notation (FAN) is a widely-used variation of Standard Algebraic Notation which replaces the letter that stands for a piece by its symbol, i.e. ♞c6 instead of Nc6 or ♖xg4 instead of Rxg4. This enables the moves to be read independent of language. In order to display or print these symbols, one has to have a one or more fonts with good Unicode support installed on the computer, and the document (Web page, word processor document, etc.) must use one of these fonts. For more information see Chess symbols in Unicode.
• Long Algebraic Notation (LAN) includes the starting file and rank of the piece, followed by a dash.
• Minimal Algebraic Notation (MAN) is similar to SAN but omits the capture indicator ("x"). It was used by Chess Informant.
• Reversible Algebraic Notation (RAN) is based on LAN, but adds an additional letter for the piece that was captured, if any. The move can be reversed by moving the piece to its original square, and restoring the captured piece. For example, Rd2xBd6.
• Concise Reversible Algebraic Notation (CRAN) is like RAN, but omits the file or rank if it is not needed to disambiguate the move. For example, Rd2:B6. This notation is recommended in Play Stronger Chess by Examining Chess 960: Usable Strategies for Fischer Random Chess Discovered.
• Figurine Concise Reversible Algebraic Notation (FCRAN) is a form of CRAN with non-Staunton figurines, used by Gene Milener during Chess960 tournaments.

• Descriptive chess notation, English notation or English descriptive notation. Until the 1970s, at least in English-speaking countries, chess games were recorded and published using this notation. This is still used by a dwindling number of mainly older players, and by those who read old books (some of which are still important).
• Really Descriptive Notation. A precursor to descriptive chess notation, where moves are written out in complete sentences, for example "The Queen's Pawn two Moves." Each move required three lines. Used in Philidor's Chess Analyzed.
• ICCF numeric notation. In international correspondence chess the use of algebraic notation may cause confusion, since different languages have different names for the pieces. The standard for transmitting moves in this form of chess is ICFF numeric notation.
• Smith Notation is a straight-forward chess notation designed to be reversible and represent any move without ambiguity. The notation encodes the from square, to square, and what piece was captured, if any.
• Coordinate notation is similar to algebraic notation except that no abbreviation or symbol is used to show which piece is moving. It can do this without ambiguity because it always includes the square from which the piece moves as well as its destination. It has proved hard for humans to write and read, but is used internally by some chess-related computer software.

Here is an example of the same moves in some of the notations which may be used by humans:

Chess Notation Examples

Short Algebraic	Figurine Algebraic	Long Algebraic	Reversible Algebraic	Descriptive	Coordinate	ICCF
1. e4 e5	1. ♙e4 ♟e5	1. e2-e4 e7-e5	1. e2-e4 e7-e5	1. P-K4 P-K4	1. E2-E4 E7-E5	1. 5254 5755
2. Nf3 Nc6	2. ♘f3 ♞c6	2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6	2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6	2. N-KB3 N-QB3	2. G1-F3 B8-C6	2. 7163 2836
3. Bb5 a6	3. ♗b5 ♟a6	3. Bf1-b5 a7-a6	3. Bf1-b5 a7-a6	3. B-N5 P-QR3	3. F1-B5 A7-A6	3. 6125 1716
4. Bxc6 dxc6	4. ♗xc6 ♟dxc6	4. Bb5xc6 d7xc6	4. Bb5xNc6 d7xBc6	4. BxN QPxB	4. B5-C6 D7-C6	4. 2536 4736
5. d3 Bb4+	5. ♙d3 ♝b4+	5. d2-d3 Bf8-b4+	5. d2-d3 Bf8-b4+	5. P-Q3 B-N5ch	5. D2-D3 F8-B4	5. 4243 6824
6. Nc3 Nf6	6. ♘c3 ♞f6	6. Nb1-c3 Ng8-f6	6. Nb1-c3 Ng8-f6	6. N-B3 N-B3	6. B1-C3 G8-F6	6. 2133 7866
7. O-O Bxc3	7. O-O ♝xc3	7. O-O Bb4xc3	7. O-O Bb4xNc3	7. O-O BxN	7. E1-G1 B4-C3	7. 5171 2433

Annotators commenting on a game frequently use question marks and exclamation marks to label a move as bad or praise the move as a good one (see punctuation (chess)).

Move notations for computers

The following are commonly used for chess-related computer systems (in addition to Coordinate and Smith notation, which are described above):

• Portable Game Notation (PGN). This is the most common of several notations that have emerged based upon algebraic chess notation, for recording chess games in a format suitable for computer processing.
• Steno-Chess. This is another format suitable for computer processing. It sacrifices the ability to play through games (by a human) for conciseness, which minimises the number of characters required to store a game.
• Forsyth–Edwards Notation. (FEN). A single line format which gives the current positions of pieces on a board, to enable generation of a board in something other than the initial array of pieces. It also contains other information such as castling rights, move number, and color on move. It is incorporated into the PGN standard as a Tag Pair in conjunction with the SetUp tag.
• Extended Position Description. (EPD). Another format which gives the current positions of a board. It is better than FEN for certain chess variants, such as Fischer Random Chess.

Recording the positions of pieces

Chess pieces

	King
	Queen
	Rook
	Bishop
	Knight
	Pawn

Positions are usually shown as diagrams (images), using the symbols shown here for the pieces.

There is also a notation for recording positions in text format, called the Forsyth–Edwards Notation (FEN). This is useful for adjourning a game to resume later or for conveying chess problem positions without a diagram. A position can also be recorded by listing the pieces and the square upon which they reside, e.g. White: Ke1, Rd3, etc.

Endgame classification

There are also systems for classifying types of endgames. See Chess endgame#Endgame classification for more details.

History

Page from 1841 Chess Player's Chronicle

The notation for chess moves evolved slowly, as these examples show. The last is in algebraic chess notation, the others show the evolution of descriptive chess notation and use spelling and notation of the period.

1614: The white king commands his owne knight into the third house before his owne bishop.

1750: K. knight to His Bishop's 3d.

1837: K.Kt. to B.third sq.

1848: K.Kt. to B's 3rd.

1859: K. Kt. to B. 3d.

1874: K Kt to B3

1889: KKt -B3

1904: Kt-KB3

1946: N-KB3

Modern: Nf3

A text from Shakespeare's time uses complete sentences to describe moves, for example, "Then the black king for his second draught brings forth his queene, and placest her in the third house, in front of his bishop's pawne" - which we would now write as 2 ... Qf6. The great 18th-century player Philidor used an almost equally verbose approach in his influential book "Analyse du jeu des Échecs", for example, "The king's bishop, at his queen bishop's fourth square."

Rather surprisingly, algebraic chess notation was used by Philipp Stamma (c. 1705-1755) in an almost fully developed form before the now obsolete descriptive chess notation evolved. The main difference between Stamma's system and the modern system is that Stamma used "p" for pawn moves and the original file of the piece ("a" through "h") instead of the initial letter of the piece. But Philidor defeated Stamma in a match, so his writings had more influence and the descriptive system based on his approach was dominant for a long time. Algebraic notation became dominant in the 20th century, although it did not become popular in the English-speaking countries until the 1970s.

See also

• Punctuation (chess)
• Chess opening theory table