Understanding Chess Notation

Chess notation has an important role in the world of chess because it preserves the game’s history. It allows people to record games for posterity and gives them the chance to review the history of the game’s development to date. Notation also allows people to overcome language barriers and communicate with one another in a universally understood manner.

Many kinds of chess notation exist, from forsythe (a notation that computers understand) to different notations for various languages. One kind of notation, however, is universally understood: algebraic, which uses a single letter and number to name each square and a letter for each chess piece. This notation system replaced the older English descriptive notation — which used an abbreviated form of a verbal description of the moves — because chess is for all people, not just English-speaking people.

The numbering and lettering of the chess board is oriented to the white player’s position and looks like this:

As with each square for a chessboard, each chess piece also needs to be referred to by some notation, as indicated in the following table: