Guide

Chess notation: how to read and write algebraic notation

Chess notation is the simple system for writing down a game move by move. Once you can read it, you can follow any book, study any opening and replay any famous game. This guide covers algebraic notation from the square names to a full sample game.

The basics

What chess notation is and why it matters

Chess notation is a shorthand for recording moves so that any game can be written down, shared and replayed. The modern standard is algebraic notation, used in every book, database, tournament scoresheet and online platform such as Chess.com and Lichess. Learning it is the single most useful step after learning the rules: it lets you study openings, read annotated games, and understand the move list that appears next to any board.

The idea is small. Every square on the board has a name, every piece has a letter, and a move is written as the piece plus the square it lands on. A handful of extra symbols cover captures, check, checkmate and special moves. That is the whole system.

Coordinates

Files, ranks and chess square names

The board is an 8 by 8 grid. The eight vertical columns are the files, labelled a to h from left to right when White is at the bottom. The eight horizontal rows are the ranks, numbered 1 to 8from White's side upward. White's back row is rank 1; Black's back row is rank 8.

Every chess square name is its file letter followed by its rank number, so the coordinates are read like a map reference: e4 is the square in file e on rank 4, g7 is in file g on rank 7, and the four central squares are d4, e4, d5 and e5. White's king starts on e1, Black's on e8. Knowing the square names instantly is the foundation of everything else, so it is worth drilling them.

Want them to become automatic? Practice naming the squares with the free coordinate trainer just below.

Practice

Practice the coordinates

Reading notation only feels effortless once the chess board coordinates are second nature. Use this free coordinate trainer to drill the square names against the clock: a target square name appears, you click it on the board, and each correct click scores a point. It is the fastest way to learn the chess board coordinates and build the quick board vision that strong players rely on, the ability to know where any square is without counting files and ranks. Turn the coordinate labels off to train from memory, and flip to the black side to stay sharp from both points of view. Free, runs in your browser, no account needed.

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The pieces

The piece letters

Each piece is written with a single capital letter, taken from its English name:

  • K = King
  • Q = Queen
  • R = Rook
  • B = Bishop
  • N = Knight (N, because K is already the king)

Pawns have no letter. A pawn move is written as just the destination square, so e4 is a pawn moving to e4. If you see a lowercase square with no capital in front, it is a pawn.

The core rule

How a chess move is written

A normal move in chess move notation is the piece letter plus the destination square:

  • Nf3 = knight goes to f3
  • Bb5 = bishop goes to b5
  • Qd1 = queen goes to d1
  • e4 = pawn goes to e4 (no letter for a pawn)

You do not write where the piece came from, only where it lands. The board position tells you which piece can legally reach that square. The only time you add the starting file or rank is when two identical pieces could both move there, which is covered under disambiguation below.

Symbols

Captures, check and checkmate

  • Capture (x): an x before the destination square means a piece is captured. Bxf7is a bishop capturing on f7. A pawn capture uses the pawn's starting file, as in exd5 (a pawn on the e-file captures on d5).
  • Check (+): a + at the end means the move attacks the enemy king, as in Qh5+.
  • Checkmate (#): a # at the end means the move is checkmate and ends the game, as in Qxf7#. Some sources write checkmate as ++.

Special moves

Castling, promotion and en passant

  • Castling: kingside castling is written O-O (two letter O's) and queenside castling is O-O-O (three). They use capital O, not zero. A handy memory aid: the longer side of the board, queenside, gets the longer symbol.
  • Pawn promotion: when a pawn reaches the far rank it promotes, written as the square plus = and the new piece. e8=Q means a pawn reaches e8 and becomes a queen. You can promote to a rook, bishop or knight too, as in e8=N+.
  • En passant: this special pawn capture is written like any other pawn capture using the destination square, for example exd6. Some sources add e.p. to flag it, as in exd6 e.p.

Edge cases

Disambiguation: when two pieces can reach the same square

Sometimes two identical pieces could both legally move to the same square. To make the move clear, you add the starting file (or rank) of the piece that actually moves:

  • Nbd2 means the knight on the b-file moves to d2 (because a knight on f3 could also go to d2). The extra b is the file it came from.
  • R1e2 means the rook on rank 1 moves to e2, used when two rooks share the e-file and the file letter alone would not separate them, so the rank is given instead.
  • If even file and rank are both needed, the full starting square is used, as in Qh4e1.

Putting it together

Reading a full move list

A game is a numbered list of move pairs. Each number holds White's move first, then Black's. So 1. e4 e5means move 1 was White's pawn to e4 followed by Black's pawn to e5. Here is the start of a famous miniature, the Scholar's Mate:

1. e4   e5
2. Qh5  Nc6
3. Bc4  Nf6
4. Qxf7#

Read it move by move: both sides push a central pawn, White brings the queen to h5 and the bishop to c4 aiming at f7, Black develops knights, and on move 4 the queen captures on f7 with checkmate, shown by the #. With the square names and symbols above, you can now decode any line like this.

File formats

PGN and FEN, the two file formats

PGN (Portable Game Notation) stores a whole game: all the algebraic moves above plus tags for the players, event, date and result.

FEN (Forsyth-Edwards Notation) is one line that describes a single position: the pieces, whose turn it is, castling rights and the move counters.

To see notation in action, load a game and see the notation update move by move on the analysis board, where you can also paste a FEN to set up any position.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How do you read chess notation?

Read each move as a piece letter followed by the destination square. Nf3 means a knight moves to the f3 square; e4 (no letter) means a pawn moves to e4. Files are the columns a to h, ranks are the rows 1 to 8, so every square has a name like e4 or g7. Extra symbols add detail: x is a capture, + is check, # is checkmate, O-O is castling and =Q is a promotion.

What is algebraic notation?

Algebraic notation is the standard, worldwide system for recording chess moves. It names every square with a letter (the file, a to h) and a number (the rank, 1 to 8), then writes a move as the moving piece plus its destination square. It replaced older descriptive notation and is what you see in books, databases, Chess.com and Lichess.

What do the symbols (+, #, x, =) mean?

x marks a capture (Bxf7 means a bishop captures on f7). + means the move gives check. # means checkmate. = announces a pawn promotion and the new piece, as in e8=Q. You will also meet O-O (kingside castling), O-O-O (queenside castling) and e.p. for an en passant capture.

What is the difference between PGN and FEN?

PGN (Portable Game Notation) stores a whole game: every move in algebraic notation plus tags like the players, event and result. FEN (Forsyth-Edwards Notation) is a single line that describes one position: where the pieces sit, whose turn it is, castling rights and the move counters. Use PGN for a full game and FEN for a snapshot of one position.

How do I learn the chess board coordinates fast?

Drill them. The fastest way is to practice naming random squares against the clock with the free coordinate trainer on this page, which shows a board and asks you to find squares such as f6 or c3 until the names become automatic. Turn the coordinate labels off to train from memory, and flip to the black side to stay sharp from both points of view.

What is board vision?

Board vision is knowing where any square is without stopping to count files and ranks. It is the quiet skill behind fast, accurate play: you read notation at a glance, calculate lines without losing track of where pieces land, and spot tactics because the geometry of the board is already in your head. A few minutes of coordinates training a day builds it.

Keep going

Now put notation to work: drill the square names with the coordinate trainer above, load a game on the analysis board and watch the notation update move by move, or learn what the ?! and ?? marks on your moves mean in the move classifications guide.

Study your own games in notation

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