How to Read Chess Notation
To read about chess games and follow along with annotated masterpieces, you need to understand chess notation — the system by which moves are recorded. The standard system today is algebraic notation, though older books often use descriptive notation, which you may encounter when reading historical accounts of games from Alekhine's era.
Algebraic Notation
In algebraic notation, every square on the board has a unique name. The files (columns) are labeled a through h from left to right (from White's perspective). The ranks (rows) are labeled 1 through 8 from bottom to top (from White's perspective). So the square in White's lower-left corner is a1, and the square in Black's lower-right corner (upper-right from White's view) is h8.
Piece Abbreviations
| Symbol | Piece |
|---|---|
| K | King |
| Q | Queen |
| R | Rook |
| B | Bishop |
| N | Knight |
| (none) | Pawn |
Recording a Move
A move is recorded as the piece abbreviation followed by the destination square. So Nf3 means a knight moved to f3. Bb5 means a bishop moved to b5. Pawn moves are recorded with just the square: e4 means a pawn moved to e4.
Captures are marked with "x": Bxf6 means a bishop captured whatever was on f6. exd5 means the pawn on the e-file captured on d5.
Check is marked with "+". Checkmate is marked with "#" or sometimes "++".
Special Moves
Castling kingside is recorded as O-O. Castling queenside is O-O-O.
En passant captures are recorded the same as regular pawn captures, sometimes with "(ep)" added for clarity.
Pawn promotion is recorded with the destination square followed by the piece promoted to: e8=Q means the pawn promoted to a queen on e8.
Annotation Symbols
Annotated games use a standard set of symbols to evaluate moves:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ! | Good move |
| !! | Brilliant move |
| ? | Mistake |
| ?? | Blunder |
| !? | Interesting but risky move |
| ?! | Dubious move |
| +/- | White has a significant advantage |
| -/+ | Black has a significant advantage |
| = | Equal position |
Descriptive Notation
Older chess books, including many from Alekhine's era, use descriptive notation. In this system, squares are named from each player's perspective. The files are named after the piece that starts there: King's file (K), Queen's file (Q), King's Bishop's file (KB), and so on. Ranks are numbered from each player's own first rank.
So P-K4 means "pawn to the fourth square of the King's file" — what we would write as e4 in algebraic notation. N-KB3 means "knight to the third square of the King's Bishop's file" — Nf3 in algebraic. It takes some getting used to, but fluency in descriptive notation opens up a large library of classical chess books.