Only a 40 year break...

Me too! 

Whatever are they talking about.

Kay, you're naughty!

I can do both algebraic and description notation and algebraic is much quicker to use.  Nf3 >>>> NKB3.

But Nf6 is also NKB3.  This is what makes descriptive notation a bit clumsy -- to interpret a notated move, you must first know whether it's a move by White or Black.  I'm 54, and I learned descriptive notation first (as a child), but later I definitely found algebraic notation easier to learn, read, and to use in tournaments.

Bullet or lightning is usually less than 3 min./side. 

Blitz is usually less than 15 min./side

Rapid chess is usually more than 15 min. but less than a hour/side.

Standard chess in similar to Classical chess.

Increments will affect the time.  E.g. 5/12 will fall into the category of Rapid, not blitz.

There are all sorts of additional time controls that will confuse the issue.

And Nf6 can also be NKB6.  Or N4KB6 or some such nonsense.  Writing down a chess move shouldn't put me on a terrorist watch list database.

Why use the N at all - it introduces similar ambiguity as descriptive.  Why not instead use full "algebraic" coordinates, something like g8f6. Seems like algebraic only went half way.  Am I missing something?

-Mark R.

Good to see you came back to the dark side. 

Agreeing with nobodyreally's initial hypothesis.

Who knows why they did that. And why not pe2-e4. Or Pe2-e4. But e2-e4 (pawn)

I have no idea. Maybe some chess historian does. The point is it's easier than the other system.

There were even discussions I remember about when the queens knight is on the kingside (and vice-versa) is it still the queens knight or the kings knight?

I believe fischer said that the queens knight always stays the queens knight where ever it is even though he couldn't write it down like that on his scoresheet.

Oh, sorry, didn't read it very well (this is edit).

"Rapid" may be confusing to him as that's not a rating category here.  I also don't think chess.com standard is similar to classical chess (unless you're somehow finding people to play very long games with you, e.g. G/90).

Mark,

Welcome back to the world of chess.  Be careful... you may soon regret you took so much time off.  I've always felt us chess players never give up the game for good.  Oh, sometimes we get away from it for awhile - sometimes a long while - but we eventually always seem to come back to it.

As a 50-year-old who grew up learning and playing in the '70s, I also learned descriptive notation.  Back then, that's what all of the magazines and books published, of course.  And even now, just for fun, when I'm recording a tournament game, I'll do it in descriptive, just because I can!  I'm "fluent" with both types of notation.  In fact, I love the look on my young opponent's face when during the game they ask to see my scoresheet and I give it to them and they see my decriptive notation, probably when they were expecting algebraic.

But yes, I do prefer algebraic and I'd like to think that eventually you will too.  It's just a matter of spending some time with it, and getting used to it.  It is more elegant.  And to me, because I'm fluent in both notations, I can visualize Nf6 and NKB3 exactly the same.  Yea, it probably does require a little bit of time to get used to, but it's not Rocket Science and as long as you have the right attitude, it's not hard and it shouldn't take long at all. 

Proably 20-30% of my chess books are in descriptive, so I need to be comfortable with both, since I don't wish to give these up!

Have you downloaded and installed any engines yet?  Do you have a chess GUI to play over games?  (Your games and those of GMs, for example.)  Are you planning on entering any local tourneys?

Again, welcome back.

Ed Collins
Southern California

Hi Ed,

Um... What's an engine? ... Um... What's a chess GUI, you mean like the graphical interface app for chessCom on my ipad?

At the moment I have no plans for tourneys or clubs let's see if I can focus well enough anymore to pick my rating up out of the 700's first :)

you should download chessbase and megadatabase and go through games there. you can go through it in your head and then reinforce this by going through it on a the 2-D board (heard many pro players advise people to do things like this---just mash that button until it's cemented)

You might consider much slower games until you get your 'chess legs' back.

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Wow... And folks earlier in this thread jumped on me, the noob, for presuming there were people spoiling the forums... Thought we had the topic back on track.