Chess notation: how to read algebraic notation
Chess notation is a way of writing a move as a couple of characters. Algebraic notation, the system everyone uses now, gives every square a name and every piece a letter, and a move is the piece letter plus the square it lands on. Nf3 is a knight going to f3. That is most of it.
How squares are named
The eight columns, called files, are lettered a to h from white's left to white's right. The eight rows, called ranks, are numbered 1 to 8 starting at white's end. A square is its file letter then its rank number, always lower case: a1 is white's bottom left corner and h8 is the one diagonally opposite.
The names never flip: e1 is where white's king starts whichever side of the board you are sitting on. The lettering only makes sense if the board is the right way round, which is the first thing on how to set up a chess board.
The piece letters
Five letters, one per piece: K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop and N for knight. Pawns get no letter at all. They are the only piece written as a bare square, so e4 is a pawn to e4 while Ne4 is a knight to e4.
A move is the letter plus the destination. Rd1 is a rook to d1. Bg5 is a bishop to g5. Kf2 is the king stepping to f2. Nothing records where the piece came from, because in almost every position only one piece of that type can get there.
What do x, + and # mean in chess notation?
Three symbols cover almost everything else. An x before the square means the move captures whatever was standing there: Nxe5 is a knight taking on e5. A + after the move means it gives check. A # means checkmate, and the game is over.
They stack, so Bxf7+ is a bishop capturing on f7 and giving check at the same time. For a pawn capture the file the pawn came from stands in for the piece letter: exd5 is the pawn on the e-file taking on d5.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| x | Capture, as in Rxd5 |
| + | Check |
| # | Checkmate, end of game |
| O-O | Castling kingside, the short one |
| O-O-O | Castling queenside, the long one |
| =Q | A pawn promoting, here to a queen |
| e.p. | An en passant capture, optional and often left off |
| ! and ? | Somebody's opinion of the move, not part of it |
Castling, promotion and en passant
Castling ignores the pattern because two pieces move. Kingside is written O-O, two capital letter Os with a hyphen, and queenside is O-O-O. Which rook each one uses, and the four conditions that stop you, are on how to castle in chess.
A pawn reaching the far rank is written as the square it lands on, an equals sign and the new piece: e8=Q is a pawn promoting to a queen, and e8=Q+ is the same move giving check. More on that in how pawns move and promote.
An en passant capture is written like an ordinary pawn capture, exd6 rather than exd5, because the pawn lands on the empty square behind the one it took. Some people add e.p. afterwards to make it obvious. The move itself is on the en passant rule.
When two pieces can reach the same square
Now and then Nd2 would be ambiguous because either knight could go there. The fix is to add the file the moving piece came from: Nbd2 is the knight on the b-file, Nfd2 the one on the f-file. If both are on the same file, the rank goes in instead, as in R1e4. If that still leaves it unclear, both go in: Qh4e1.
Move numbers and reading a whole game
A move number counts one turn each. Write the number, a dot, white's move, then black's reply: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6. To write a black move on its own, the number gets three dots, so 1... e5 means black's answer to white's first move.
A game line is just that repeated. Read 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 as: both players push their king pawn two squares, the knights come out to f3 and c6, the white bishop goes to b5 and the black a-pawn to a6, then the bishop takes the knight and the d-pawn takes back. It is slow the first few times and then it is not.
What is PGN?
PGN, portable game notation, is a plain text file holding a whole game: a few lines of tags for the players, date and result, then the moves in algebraic notation. Every chess site and program reads it, so a PGN is how a game travels from one place to another.
Notation on this site
During a game the Moves button opens the move list, one numbered line per pair of moves, white's then black's, so you can look back without writing anything down. It is there in 2 player chess offline and online play alike.
When a pass-and-play game finishes, the result box has a Copy PGN button. One tap puts the whole game on your clipboard, tags and moves, ready to paste into a message or any board that will read it back. The rest of the rules, all on boards you can move, are on the rules of chess.
Frequently asked questions
What does x mean in chess notation?
A capture. Nxe5 is a knight taking whatever stood on e5. For pawns the file the pawn came from goes first, so exd5 is the e-pawn taking on d5.
What does + mean in chess notation?
Check: the move attacks the enemy king, and the other player has to deal with it on the next move rather than doing anything else.
What does # mean in chess notation?
Checkmate. The king is in check with no way out and the game ends on that move. Older books write it as ++ or as mate instead.
What does O-O mean in chess?
Castling kingside, the short one. O-O-O is castling queenside. They are capital letter Os, though plenty of people type zeros and everyone knows what they mean.
Why is the knight N and not K?
Because K was already taken by the king. The knight got the next available letter of its name, and N has stuck in every language that uses algebraic notation.
How do I write a pawn move?
Just the square it goes to, with no letter in front: e4, d5, h6. Pawns are the only piece written that way, which is why a bare square always means a pawn.
Do I have to write my moves down?
Only in a rated tournament game. For a game with a friend it is optional, and here the move list does it for you.
Now play it
Play 2 player chess offline on one device or play chess online with a friend.