Guidelines for Algebraic Notation:

• Squares on the board

  Each square of the chessboard is identified by its file and rank and so each has a unique coordinate.

  Each line of squares going up and down the board is called a “file”. For example, at the start of the game, both Kings are on the same file. Files are lettered with small letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h. No matter what color you play, the “a” file is always on White’s left and Black’s right. The Kings are on the “e-file.”

  Each line of squares going left to right across the board is called a “rank”. For example, at the start of the game, all your pawns are on the same rank. Ranks are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. The first rank is always where White sets up his major pieces; the eighth rank is where Black sets up his major pieces. No matter what color you play, the rank in front of Black is always #8.

  Each square of the board, then, is uniquely identified by its file letter and rank number. The white king, for example, starts the game on square e1. The black King starts on e8. The black knight on b8 can move, if the squares are open, to a6, c6 or d7.

  

• Chess Pieces

  Each type of piece (other than pawns) is identified by an uppercase letter. Players use different letters in other languages but English-speaking players use K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop, and N for knight.

  Pawns are not indicated by a letter, but by the absence of such a letter. It is not necessary to distinguish between pawns for normal moves, as only one pawn can move to any one square.

• Notation for Moves

  Each move of a piece is indicated by the piece's letter, plus the coordinate of the destination square. For example Ke2 indicates King to square e2, Nf3 indicates a Knight move to square f3.

  For pawn moves no letter such as a “P” is used, just the destination square: e4, e5, h8. A move of c5, for example, with no letter denoting a piece indicates a pawn move to square c5.

• Captures

  When a piece makes a capture, an x is inserted between the initial and the destination square. For example, Bxe5 (Bishop captures the piece on e5). When a pawn makes a capture, the file from which the pawn departed is used in place of a piece initial. For example, exd5 (Pawn on e captures the piece on d5).

• En Passant

  En passant captures are specified by the capturing pawn's file of departure, the x, and the square to which it moves, not the location of the captured pawn, optionally followed by the notation "ep".

  For example, a black pawn is on d4. White moves a pawn from e2 to e4. Black has the opportunity to capture the pawn on e4 en passant and in doing so moves his pawn from d4 to e3. The move would be noted as dxe3 ep.

• Ambiguous Moves

  If two identical pieces can move to the same square, put the name of either the rank or file where the piece came from after the piece name to make the move unique. For example, Rae1 would be Rook on a (as opposed to the rook on another file) to e1. Or N8d7, Knight on 8 (assuming here that both Knights are on the same file, the rank is used to distinguish which Knight is to move) to d7.

  If pieces are on different ranks and files, the first method is preferred. For example, with two knights on g1 and d2, either of which might move to f3, the move is indicated as Ngf3 or Ndf3, as appropriate. In rare instances it may be necessary to identify a departing piece with both its file and its rank.

• Pawn Promotion

  If a pawn moves to its last rank, achieving promotion, the piece chosen is indicated after the move, for example e1Q, or b8B. Sometimes an "=" sign is used: f8=Q.

• Castling

  Castling is indicated by O-O for Kingside castling and O-O-O for Queenside. (Note that the number of Os is equal to the number of squares the Rook moved.)

• Check and Checkmate

  A check is indicated by a "+" at the end of the move: Rh8+ or Qxe2+. Checkmate can likewise be indicated by "#." E.g. Qxf8#

• Recording a Game

  Moves are generally written in one of two ways.

  1. In two columns, as a white/black pair, preceded by the move number and a period:

     1. e4 e5
     2. Nf3 Nc6
     3. Bb5 a6

  2. Or as a line of text: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6.

• Comments

  Short-hand notations are sometimes used to comment on moves, primarily as a diagnostic or learning tool.

  ! a good move
  !! an excellent move
  ? a mistake
  ?? a blunder
  !? an interesting move that may not be best
  ?! a dubious move, but not easily refuted
  

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  Forsyth-Edwards Notation

  Six fields are used to describe the current state of the chessboard for a game in progress. The following represents the beginning of a game with all pieces in their starting positions:
  rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
  1. In the first field, the position of pieces is noted row by row, beginning with Black's Queen's Rook square. Lower case represent black pieces, upper case represent white. A number indicates empty squares. For example: 8 indicates an entirely empty row; 4p3 indicates a row with four empty squares, a black pawn, then three empty squares; P1Bpn2Q indicates a row with a white pawn followed by a blank square, a white bishop, a black pawn, a black knight, two blank squares, and the white queen.

  2. The second field, with a lower case w or b indicates which player is next to move.

  3. The third field indicates castling ability for either side denoted using from 1 to 4 characters in the order KQkq. KQkq notes that both white and black have the capability of castling to kingside or to queenside if conditions allow. A "-" would indicate that neither side any longer can castle. If white has already castled, has moved the King, or has moved both rooks in the course of the game but black can still castle to either side this would be noted as kq. If white still has the ability to castle to queenside and black has only the ability to castle to kingside, this would be noted as Qk.

  4. The fourth field notes a potential en passant target. Whenever the last move was a pawn move of two squares this is noted, otherwise a "-" indicates there is no possiblility of an en passant capture. For example if the first move is white's pawn from e2 to e4, this field would note that e3 could be targeted for an en passant capture. The digit will necessarily always be a 3 for white pieces and a 6 for black.

  5. The fifth field indicates the number of half moves since the last pawn move or the last capture. This "half move clock" number is the count of half moves since the last pawn advance or capturing move. This value is used for the fifty move draw rule.

  6. The last field gives the current full move number, starting with 1 for the beginning of the game. Once white and black have completed their first moves, the full move count becomes 2.