Mourning the Demise of Descriptive Notation

Well - it’s a Sunday. Skeleton staff. Per usual expect 1/2 the posts to be senseless trolling. The topic is worthy of discussion for those unfamiliar with notation and it’s history. Just have to ignore the trolling posts.

Thinking in algebraic from the Black side becomes the only obstacle to overcome. A slight challenge but easily overcome.

Which Rook is the Kings Rook? The original KR could later be on the Queen side. Or both Rooks on the same side of the board. 

Well - it’s begun. The music video posts / off topic / and general banter between the kids who have little to contribute except to be seen. I’m outta here - to the applause of .... Have a great day all ....and btw - good chess ! Big tournament today to watch.

There's also a difference between "more logical" and "objectively better".  One's weight in pounds or kilograms may change from day to day, but one's weight in stone is less likely to.

Hence the royal markings on finer sets.

Because they're old-fashioned bigots, being dominated by the E.U.?

And they simply think they know it all and they don't?

I switched very early, around 1989, to abbreviated algebraic. You know, like ef, Bg4, Nxd6  and ...dc. However, I still have friends who use descriptive, when playing club matches. They have no intention of ever changing.

No, that's totally silly.

You might write RQB4 for Rc4 or ...Rc5. If either rook can move there you would indicate the origination, either with a letter if both rooks are on the same rank or a number if they're on the same file.

Our notation is an admixture of algebraic and descriptive,

Elements originating in descriptive are: piece indicators, symbols for capture/check/checkmate, short notation.

I don't blame you but what would you do if some idiot arbiter wanted to disqualify you? I mean, other than puncturing all his car tyres? Would you meekly give in, would you complain to the tournament director, or would you stick to your guns and be disqualified (by the idiot)?

Incidentally, the advantage of abbreviated algebraic is that it's far faster to write. I think that's about all.

There's no advantage in clarity if one's language is different, since that also is a variable in algebraic. We have to assume that it's due to bigotry in FIDE.

The name of the Rook is its origination.>>

If chessmaster thinks that, then chessmaster is wrong. It's possible that in the very early days of notation, they tried to do that. Of course, they failed.

I believe I've seen it in books also, come to think of it. But I only began playing chess competitively in 1987 and at that time, no-one used the old procedure of tracking a piece. It was always an inefficient and silly idea. A bit like sticking unmounted mint stamps in an album using stamp hinges and then wondering why your collection just became worth £5000 less after one afternoon's "work". People always did that too and how silly it was!

<<2. It demonstrate the need for Bi-lateral Algebraic.>>

There's actually no need for it. Some people use 100% algebraic.

If you have a bishop on c3 taking a queen on h2, in descriptive that might be BxQKR2 or BQB3xKR2 or any permutation. In normal mixed, BxQh2 or maybe Bc3xh2. I would simply write Bxh2.

But in pure algebraic it is simply c3xh2 or perhaps, more simply, c3h2.

If Chessmaster was using it in 2002, it was probably not spotted because almost everyone by then used algebraic. Also, Chessmaster was the entry-level program used by beginners and novices.

Another point is that Chessmaster is an American program whereas the strongest engines were European, such as Mephisto, Genius, Fritz. I bet that in 2002, many Americans still classified cars and motorbikes according to cubic capacity in inches or even old-fashioned horsepower.

Good point.

In my experience, when it was early enough in the game that it was clear which side the pieces came from, it was common to use QR, KB, etc.  A common situation was after the rooks were connected, specifying which rook went to the open file.

By the end game, one typically used rank or file.