For example, cxb4 vs cb4, Qxf3 vs Qf3. Is there instance(s) where the "x" is absolutely needed to properly reconstruct a game?
Are you still being billed by the character?
Language has a lot of redundant information. Including it makes reading easier.
It is for an algebraic notation-to-PGN converter that takes your score sheets and output PGN files. It saves the trouble of entering moves after a game. I've been slacking, but I hope to wrap up this program in the next week just before my summer travel season. It should be useful to OTB players.
I can't think of any instance where the "x" is necessary. But maybe somebody with more experience can point out an example.
Also, if you are into computer vision and like to help, I'd like a better photograph orient/recognition program so that the photo of the score sheet doesn't have to be so strictly oriented and be on clear background. I'm totally new to CV; so even good pointers is useful. I now kind of regret dropping that image recognition class in college : (
Well, if we are optimizing the notation, we could extend the already-existing optimization of pawn moves. After all, it's already notated eg. as "e4" rather than something like "Pe4". We can extend that: If only one piece can move to a certain square, ie. there is no need to disambiguate, why write the piece symbol at all? If in a certain situation there's only one piece, eg. a knight, that can move to, let's say, the g7 square, then write the move as "g7" rather than "Ng7".
Also, notating castling as "0-0" and "0-0-0" is a waste of space. Those could be notated with single letters.
The "x" is difficult to OCR because it is one more character to learn and also adds a character to the sentence. But I'm not an expert in this area, so maybe I'm doing it the hard way.
As for "cb" vs "cxb4" or "cb4", it is a possibility because the result is fed into a computer, so ambiguous moves, missing moves, and limited/wrong notation can be automatically corrected, esp. when both players' score sheets are analyzed together.
I should have something soon. Hopefully.
My goal is to automate the recording of chess games at OTB tournaments cheaply. I mean, currently, it can happen with the DGT eboards, but they are expensive so our scholastic tournaments can't afford to have hundreds/thousands of those eboards at each tournament.
So I tried to build a cheap eboard (so that it can be available for free) that works the same as DGT WRT recording OTB games. Although my eboard works, I just couldn't get it cheap and looking normal.
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/diy-e-board
The second eboard can cost < $3, but it requires special chessmen (like DGT), which is something I wanted to get away from because it increases the cost of ownership.
So now, I'm turning my attention to just making use of the score sheets. A lot of scholastic players' score sheets are not that useful because either they missed many moves or just plan make mistakes. However, we can usually puzzle together a game with both players' score cards. So this new project focuses on that.
The plan is to make this system available free to all tournament players.
The best idea I'd like to explore (but lack the knowledge) is to use surveillance cameras to monitor many boards at tournaments and make recordings of those games.
I've made a prototype camera monitor of a single board, which reuses my chessboard software and detects possible move based on interference of the board boundaries. It works, but is offensive to look at and will not work for tournaments.
If you are into computer vision and want to contribute (I'd like to make everything available for free, so there's not going to be any pay unless we get donations, but I'm not interested in pursuing donations), I can surely use your help. My expertise is in network security so all this OCR and vision stuff is brand new (have to learn a lot and do a lot of reading... and get reminded of how much math I've forgotten).
For example, cxb4 vs cb4, Qxf3 vs Qf3. Is there instance(s) where the "x" is absolutely needed to properly reconstruct a game?