any advice for reading notation?

I am not a noob, i've been playing chess my whole life and yet when i watch, read, or listen to algebraic notation i become like a 5 year old playing battleship....E.....4.... N to F.....6.... is a hit!

Any tips?

Yes. Just remember the vertical columns are the ones with the letters and they are called "files". (a - h)

And the horizontal rows are the ones with numbers and they are called "ranks". (1 - 8)

So the 4th (rank) square on the e file is e4.

It's not written or spoken in the American language, therefore causing confusion to all but a very few gifted Americans.

wow... yes thanks for that, the numbers go up and the letters go across... problem solved... NOT!

C'mon man! I know the orientation of the board, i just cant follow lists of moves quickly, any tips for following along more rapidly?

If someone says white right and queen on her own color im gonna freak out!

I think it's better to read it like "pawn to e4" and "knight to f6", instead of just saying the letters.

Well, if someone takes their time to break down exactly how to find any move on the board quickly and easily by explaining the coordinates, ranks and files, and you respond to their kindness with sarcasm like "Wow, gee, thanks, NOT! I already know, blah, blah" then don't expect them to be too eager to help again without you first apologizing for the rude attitude and making very well sure you never disrespect them like that again. 

Or stubbornly cling to that old battleship way of doing things because you already know it all. How's that working for you?

Now if you re-read my post, you'll see it wasn't what you thought it was.

I didn't post the orientation of the board. Of course the numbers go up and the letters across.

That's not what I said.

I said what the numbers going up "do" which is create horizontal rows called ranks.

And what the letters going across "do" which is create vertical columns called files.

You'll see that's the opposite of numbers going up and letters across because it is describing their "functions" and NOT their location or orientation of the board.

It is how to "use" it to locate any square and move on the board.

This is exactly how you find and follow the moves rapidly which fully answers the question you posted.

If you have more questions, that's fine. But I answered the one you posted.

wow hissy fit...

sorry silly sylvester is so seriously sensitive

the post said ive been playing my whole life (on and off) so for you to start off with "A1 is bottom left if your white" is not helping... if that is all you've got be sure and NOT share

You may have a learning disability that's preventing you from reading what I wrote properly.

Again...I did NOT talk about how the board "is".

I explained to you how to use the board with the way it "functions" what it "Does".

This requires YOUR participation in following the coordinates.

Nowhere did I say "a is bottom left if your white".

That's you stubbornly clinging to the features of the board rather than how to properly read the coordinates which is what I explained to you.

It's not "all I got"...but it certainly FULLY answered the question you posted.

Again, if there's some kind of confusion on your part, then make sure you post that, because the question you posted was already answered.

And knock off the 'silly' stuff. No one has time for the nonsense.

thanks "moves" now move along... anyone else?

No need for anyone else. You already got the advice you said you wanted.

It's your responsbility to act on it.

I'm not "moves". And I come and go as I please.

If you truly believe the perfect explanation on how to read notation doesn't satisfactorily answer your question which was how to read notation, then the answer is no.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebraic_notation_%28chess%29

wow again WOW i dont post much and that is because of guys like "moves", your "perfect" explanation doesnt help me any when i watch Chess TV and one of the masters analyzing the game rattles off 4 moves in 3 seconds. I am fully aware of the ranks and files "like battleship" i got to think ok where is file F where is rank 7, then imagine the piece there and hold that thought while I think of the next move they mentioned to figure out the strategic concept they can so quickly recognize. I want to learn the concepts they are referencing by being faster at recognizing the coordinates to which they are referring. A helpful comment would be like "look for the rank first if numbers are easier" or imagine the center squares as ~blank~ while looking for canidate moves...

Please everyone learn from "moves" mistake if you dont know what your talking about DONT POST because other people will see all his snivling and think i actually got some help so they will not bother to read..

The way I learnt was by remembering that White's Queenside Rook starts on a1. After that, it is just a matter of practice. Seeing as the whole concept of cartesian coordinates is a simple one, it usually doesn't take long to become fluent.

First of all, I think learningthemoves has taken a lot of his time in answering your question. A small word of gratitude, like "thanks" would be a proper reply.

Obviously your question isn't fully answered, but instead of repeating your original question, you might draw the conclusion that what you are asking isn't very clear. Perhaps you could spend some time on rephrasing your question or being more specific what it is you have difficulties with.

Thanks Dog, for some reason it dosent come easy to me. For me i wish they said something like " in this position white wants to exploit black's weakness by attcking with his knight but first he needs to protect his leap square by aligning his rook"... in my head i can see that happening, i dont care which square it lands on to do that, there is usually only a couple ways these things can happen!

I didn't make a mistake dude. You just didn't like the answer.

Another helpful tip is to remember the c and f files are the 3rd from the left and 3rd from the right where the knight's (N) first move most often is.

And of course, the d and e are in the center. That just leaves you a and b for the 1st two and and g and h for the last two.

So you see Nc3 and Nf3, you know how the knight moves and you know the 'c' and 'f' are  the 3rd ones over...

So if it's like f7, there's really nothing to 'figure out'...

F is the 3rd one over and 7th the next to last rank.

After awhile, you begin to picture the squares, pieces and the squares the pieces move to more easily.

And again, I did not post only the board or anything like that...I posted how you can find the pieces and moves on the board no matter how fast any master rattles them off.

I think for some reason, like alot of us, when we first see algebraic notation it seems kind of intimidating because you weren't used to it...

But after you take that limit off and just give yourself permission to grasp it easily, it's there for you.

And no, I didn't do anything wrong. I'm the guy who made the effort to help and provided you the answer you said you were looking for.

So while you're so quick to dole out 'learn from someone else's mistake', take a moment and consider who it was that really made the mistake.

I'll give you a hint...it wasn't "moves". And it wasn't me.

again Jer you are commenting on comments not helping with the topic, Do a word count that guy's hissy fit took up all of his time his original post was just a couple words, it did work for rephrasing my question, which i already did, so what was the reason for your post again?

It was your MOM "learningthemoves"

Thanks for your "ahem" help now could you "learn the way out my thread"

Hmmm, so this really is the way you treat people who are willing to invest their time in helping you. Well, good luck in finding answers.

^ Thank you Jeroen. I think he is trying to help also. 

There was no 'hissy' anything.

Also, keep in mind, those guys doing the videos have worked with thousands of hours on opening lines and variations, so they can rattle the lines off like it's the words to your favorite song that you've listened to over and over again.

Someone hearing the song only a couple of times may like the song, but don't "know it by heart" yet like the one who listened to it so much they know all the words without reading them.