In the strategy game chess, people often record there moves to go back over games after they are done, and attempt to learn from there mistakes. While not the only kind, Algebraic Chess Notation is one of the most popular versions in the world. This is how chess notation works:



K=King

Q=Queen

R=Rook (AKA Castle for some people)

B=Bishop

N=Knight

There is no symbol for the pawn, except in unofficial tournaments, games, etc.


When facing the board on white's side, the files going up and down are lettered "a" through "h". The ranks going up and down are numbered 1 through 8. Therefore, every square has a letter and number. On white's side, the lowermost letter on the right side is "a8".

When moving a piece or pawn, you say the piece's symbol, and the square it moves to. For example, Qh4 would be the Queen moving to file "h" square 4.

When capturing, put the symbol of the piece you move, the letter "x", the symbol of the piece that was captured, and the final destination of the piece that did the capturing. For example= QxBa3.

There are several other special moves that hove unique symbols. Here are some examples:

0-0 Castle Kingside

0-0-0 Castle Queenside

e.p. En Passent