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Serious chess players sometimes record their moves via chess notation in order to study their game at a later time.  You can also use the ability to read chess notation to look up games between master chess players and study their strategy.  When you learn chess notation, you will also learn how to call each of your moves.  This will allow you to play a game of chess over the phone with a friend.

The Basics of Chess Notation

There are 8 rows running in either direction on any chess board.  In chess notation, horizontal rows are given numerical names, and vertical rows are given letter names.  In the diagram to the left, the horizontal row beginning with the rook would be row 1.  Above it would be row 2, all the way up to row 8, which begins with the black rook.

The vertical rows would be labeled beginning A and moving to H from left to right.  Thus, in the diagram to the left, the white queen is on square D1, and the black king is on square E8.

If you have trouble remembering which rows are labeled which, you can write small numbers and letters on the edge of your board, or tape small, temporary labels on the outside of each row.

In addition to row and space names, each piece is also abbreviated.  K for Kings, Q for Queens, N for Knights, B for Bishops, and R for Rooks.  Pawns are not named.

When each piece is moved, you can name the move with a combination of the abbreviation for the piece and the destination cell.  For example, the notation NH3 would look like:

If you record each move as it is made in a numbered list, you will have a complete history of the game!  Since pawns are not named, their moves are written only using the destination cell.  For example, if you were to move the pawn in front of the king two spaces forward, you would write e4.

There are some special notations for special moves.  Castling the rook that starts on the king’s side is notated as 0-0, while castling with the rook that starts on the queen’s side is 0-0-0.  When a move involves a capture, and x is used to denote the capture.  For example, if a Rook was to capture an opponent piece on square B7, the notation would read Rxb7.

To notate the en passant move,  an (ep) is included behind the notation. If there is a confusion regarding which piece you might be indication, you can include extra notation.  For example, if two knights could take the same space on a move, you need to indicate which knight.  You would do this by indicating which row the knight is in.  For example:  aNc1.   This moves the knight in row a to space c1.