Algebraic Chess Notation
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Table of Contents
Ranks,Files,Diagonals & Squares
Check,Checkmate and Draw offer
In this blog, we will learn something important: the algebraic notation. The algebraic notation is a method of briefly describing a position or a chess game. When you play an official chess tournament, they give you a scoresheet to write your moves. This is also useful to avoid confusion with your opponent, to prevent claims that he/she cheated or that he/she didn't play this move and played another one. When you play on Chess.com, you will see that next to the chessboard there is a scoresheet with the moves noted in algebraic notation. There are two main notations: the algebraic and the descriptive. The descriptive is older,while the algebraic was developed in the 18th century by Philip Stamma from Syria. In Europe, the first Renaissance books were giving the moves in descriptive notation until the 18th century. The waste of time, along with the problem of recording and saving a large number of games when international tournaments began, made the need for a simple and as unified as possible chess notation system strongly felt.
Ranks,Files,Diagonals & Squares
The chessboard consists of 8 files, each containing 8 squares. The files are the vertical columns labeled from 'a' to 'h' (from left to right from White’s perspective, or right to left from Black’s perspective).
From left to right, the highlighted files are the a-file, b-file, c-file, d-file, e-file, f-file, g-file, and h-file (we denote the files using the letters indicated below the chessboard).
In chess, the ranks refer to the horizontal rows on a chessboard. There are 8 ranks on a standard chessboard, numbered from 1 to 8, starting from the side of the board closest to the player controlling the white pieces.
A chessboard consists of 8 ranks, with each rank containing 8 squares. The ranks are the horizontal rows that extend across the board from one side to the other. The White player controls ranks 1 to 4, while the Black player controls ranks 5 to 8. The 1st rank is White's back rank and the 8th rank is Black's back rank. From bottom to top, the highlighted ranks are the 1st rank, 2nd rank, 3rd rank,4th rank,5th rank, 6th rank,7th rank and 8th rank (we denote the ranks using the numbers indicated on the left of the chessboard). In a rank, there are 8 squares, and in a chessboard, 8 ranks.
Each of the 64 squares on the chessboard has its own name. If you want to know the name of a square, then you simply check the letters and numbers on the side of the board. For example, the name of this square is e4.
Because it is on the e-file and the 4th rank.
You always say the letter first and then the number. You’ll say e4, not 4e.
A diagonal is a line of squares running at an angle across the chessboard, connecting two opposite corners. Diagonals can be classified based on their orientation (from top-left to bottom-right or from top-right to bottom-left) and their length (ranging from just a single square to the entire length of the board).
There are two main types of diagonals:
•Light-squared diagonals (diagonals consisting of only light-colored squares).
•Dark-squared diagonals (diagonals consisting of only dark-colored squares).
The Long Diagonals:
The a1-h8 diagonal (from a1 to h8) and the h1-a8 diagonal (from h1 to a8) are the longest diagonals on the chessboard. These diagonals stretch across the entire board, and controlling them is a key aspect of central and endgame strategies.
a1-h8 diagonal: It includes the squares a1, b2, c3, d4, e5, f6, g7, and h8.
h1-a8 diagonal: It includes the squares h1, g2, f3, e4, d5, c6, b7, and h8.
Central Diagonals:
d1-h5 diagonal and e1-h5 diagonal
In a chessboard, there are 26 diagonals.
Each piece is identified by the first uppercase letter of its name (except the pawn and the knight).
The symbols used in English algebraic notation are:
K=King
Q=Queen
R=Rook
B=Bishop
N=kNight(since K is used for the king)
Note:The pawns aren't identified with any letter.
Some players are replacing the letters with piece symbols.
(optional)=Pawn
=Knight
=Bishop
=Rook
=Queen
=King
Now, let's see how a move is written in algebraic notation
For example: Bxb3 means: the Bishop captures a piece on b3 (you don't have to mention which piece it is).
For example:
→When a pawn reaches the last rank and is promoted, the letter of the promoted piece is written after the square — for instance, a8=Q.
→In an en passant capture, the notation e.p. can be included optionally after the move.
When two pieces check the king at the same time, it's called a double check — and it's still written with just one “+”. But some people still claim if it's a double check you should use two “+”s (++). However, FIDE-standard notation uses one “+” for double check. That means this isn't an official rule.
A draw offer is marked on the scoresheet with an =.
When the game ends, you show the result at the bottom of your scoresheet using a simple code:
1–0 → White won
0–1 → Black won
½–½ → It was a draw.
Numbering the Moves
When you write down a chess game, each turn gets a number — but here's how it works:
For White’s move, you write the number first, like: 1. e4
Then for Black’s reply, you just follow it: 1. e4 e5
1 means it is the first move
But what if you only write Black’s move — maybe you're starting from Black's point of view?
In that case, you write three dots before the move, like this:
1... e5 ← This means it’s Black’s move on White’s first turn.
It’s just a way to say, “this is still move one, but it’s Black playing.”
Annotation symbols
| Symbol | Meaning |
| ! | Α good or a great move |
| !! | A brilliant move |
| ? | A bad move |
| ?? | A very bad move,a blunder |
| !? | An interesting move |
| ?! | A dubious move |
| !!! | An exceptionally brilliant move |
| ??? | An exceptionally bad blunder |
| !?!,?!? | A very uncertain or controversial move |
| = | An equal position |
| +/= or ⩲ | Slight advantage for white |
| =/+ or ⩱ | Slight advantage for black |
| +/− or ± | Clear advantage for white. |
| −/+ or ∓ | Clear advantage for black |
| + − | White is winning |
| − + | Black is winning |
| +−− | White has a crushing advantage |
| −−+ | Black has a crushing advantage |
| ∞ | Unclear position:We don't know which color has the advantage |
| =/∞ or ⯹ | Sacrificing material for positional advantages. |
| ⌓ | Α better move was... |
| < | Α bad move was... |
| □ | A forced move |
| Δ | With the idea... |
| ∇ | Countering |
| TN or N | Novelty |
| ↑ | Initiative |
| → | Attack |
| ⇄ | Counterplay |
| ↻ or ↑↑ | Development |
| ○ | Space(The player gains space) |
| ⊕ | Time trouble |
| ⊙ | Zugzwang(The player has to make a forced move,which will cause him/her a disadvantage |
| ⟳ | Holding a slight to moderate advantage in time or development |
| =∞ |
The material is gone, but the position gives enough in return to make it worth it. |
And with that, we've unlocked the language of chess! Understanding notation opens up a whole new world of games to study and analyze. I'm really excited for you to start putting this into practice. Go ahead and try to follow a master game, or even record your own! It's a skill that will definitely boost your chess journey. Thanks for learning with me today!
Thanks for reading!
