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Written by Bob Boland
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Wednesday, 25 February 2009 21:46 |
Chess NotationReading and Writing Chess Games Chess notation is the special way chess players write down the moves of a chess game. Most chess books are written in chess notation, and in chess tournaments players almost always write their moves in chess notation. - UPPER CASE LETTERS are used for the chess pieces.
K is for KingQ is for QueenR is for RookB is for BishopN is for Knight - For each move write the piece that is moving and the square it is moving to. Lower case letters are used for the rank and file locations on the chessboard.
Ke2 means the King moved to e2Rh4 means the Rook moved to h4Nf6 means the Knight moved to f6 This is partial chess notation. Full chess notation will show both the starting square & ending square, such as Ke1e2, meaning the King moved from the e1 square to the e2 square. Full chess notation, although not commonly used, accounts for specific piece moves, especially when two similar pieces can move to the same square. - Pawns don’t have any letters. You just write down the name of the square the Pawn is moving to.
e4 means a Pawn moved to e4d5 means a Pawn moved to d5 - The moves are written in two columns. White first, then Black, and each move is numbered.
WHITE BLACK1. e4 1. e52. Nf3 2. Bd63. Bc4 3. Nf6 These above moves are:1. White Pawn to e4, Black Pawn to e52. White Knight to f3, Black Bishop to d63. White Bishop to c4, Black Knight to f6 The moves may also appear as, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Bd6 3. Bc4 Nf6. Note that white’s moves always appear first, then black. Other Symbols Used in Chess Notation OO means castling on the King side.OOO means castling on the Queen side.X means to capture (Rxh7 – means a Rook captured a piece on h7).+ means check (Qf2+ means the Queen moved to f2 and checked the King).# means checkmate (Bc5# means a Bishop moved to c5 and checkmated the King. Pawn promotion – write the square that the pawn moved to, then the new piece that it becomes (a8(Q) or a8=Q means a white pawn moved to a8 and became a Queen). The piece it promotes to should appear in parenthesis or after the equal sign. ***If two pieces of the same kind can move to the same square, then you must write the rank or file that the piece is moving from: dxe5 means the Pawn on the d file captured on e5. N5f6 means the Knight on rank 5 moved to f6. Doing this accounts for like pieces that can move to the same square. Keeping score in chess is important for a number of reasons. Should the board get knocked over, the pieces can be put back in their proper places. Any disputes about moves can be easily reviewed. Games can be reviewed for strong and weak moves. Score sheets can be analyzed for rating purposes at USCF rated tournaments, and most importantly, by knowing how to keep score, you can read & understand chess literature & computer software to improve your game. Keeping score in chess is no different than the importance score keeping is in sports, and once you become comfortable with the process, it becomes second nature to chess players. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 07 June 2010 11:40 |
