Understanding Chess

Notation

• Chess notation combines the chess piece

moved with the new square it has moved to,
on the chess board.
• Chess notation uses abbreviations for each
piece, using capitalized letters.
• King = K, Queen = Q, Bishop = B, Knight = N,
Rook = R, Pawn = a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h(all
Alphabets).
• Capturing an enemy piece sees an “x” placed
between the piece moved and the square
the captured piece was upon.
• When the opponent’s king is threatened by
check, a “+” sign is added to the end of the
notation.
• Castling Kingside is written as 0-0 and Queen
side is written as 0-0-0.
 Understanding Chess
Notation

The Chess Board

 Understanding Chess
Notation
With this grid information, we have everything we need to give
all 64 squares a unique identifier using one letter and one
number to combine its up-down orientation with its left-right
orientation, per the diagram below

The Chess Pieces

 Understanding Chess
Notation
Putting It All Together

Chess notation combines the chess piece moved with the new
square it has moved to on the chess board. A bishop moving to the
c4 square is written as “Bc4”. A pawn moving to the e3 square is
written as “e3” (remember, pawns have no capital letter). A queen
moving to the a7 square is “Qa7”. You get the idea.

Moves are usually written in pairs, showing both the White and
the Black move – for instance, 1. e4 Nf6 shows that White used its
first move to push a pawn to e4, and Black responded by
developing a knight to f6.
 Understanding Chess
Notation

Capturing an enemy piece sees an “x” placed between the piece

moved and the square the captured piece was upon. So, if a king
captured a chess piece on e1, the notation would show “Kxe1”.

The pawn captures require us to show which file the capturing

pawn came from – so a pawn which was on h3, capturing on g4
would be “hxg4”.

White’s knight just captured Black’s pawn on e5. The correct

chess notation for this move is “Nxe5”.
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Notation
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Understanding Chess
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Understanding Chess
Notation