Algebraic notation guide
There are several variants of algebraic notation. The one recommended by FIDE has the following rules:[1]
Pawns aside, each piece is abbreviated as is most common in your country. In English, the King is abbreviated to K, Queen to Q, Bishop to B, Knight to N, and Rook to R. (When publishing fully fledged articles and books, figurines are preferable to abbreviations.) Pawns aren't mentioned by name.
From White's perspective, the files start with a on the left and end with h on the right, and the ranks start with 1 next to you and 8 next to your opponent. These name are objective, so from Black's point of view, they read h to a and 8 to 1. (This contrasts with nineteenth and twentieth century descriptive notation, in which the two players give the same square a different rank number.)
The board from White's point of view:
▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 8 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 7 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 6 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 5 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 4 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 3 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 2 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 1 abcdefgh
The board from Black's point of view:
▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 1 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 2 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 3 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 4 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 5 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 6 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 7 ▨ ▨ ▨ ▨ 8 hgfedcba
Where possible, each move is described with only the square a piece is moved to, not from. For example, an open game's first move from each player is noted like this:
1. e4 e5
If the piece moving isn't a pawn, then its abbreviation comes first when written, all bunched together, like this:
2. Nf3 Bc5
And ideally its figurine instead when typed, like this:
2. ♘f3 ♗c5
(In spite of Unicode figurines being available in both colours, I've only ever seen the white ones used in print, representing both sides.)[2][3]
Capturing is noted with an x between the piece abbreviation and target/destination square, as in Nxf2. As Pawns have no abbreviation, and capture diagonally, you should instead note the file it's coming from, as with hxg4. (Remember, file names are lowercase, while piece abbreviations are uppercase, so you can distinguish file b from a Bishop's uppercase B.)
The trickiest aspect is keeping the notation as terse as possible while remaining unambiguous. If two pieces of the same type can reach the same square, then the exact one is specified using their rank or preferably file. If the two pieces are on the same rank, then the unique file is specified, as per Ngf3 (or, if capturing, Ngxf3); if they're on the same file, then the unique rank is specified, as per N5f3 or N5xf3; if they're on different ranks and files, then specifying the file is preferable.
In other words, if the two pieces are on the same file, then the rank is specified; otherwise, the file is specified, regardless of whether they're on the same rank or not. (Curiously, FIDE's handbook doesn't mention the possibility of having more than two pieces of a given type that can move to the same square, in spite of the possibility of promotions. Presumably that situation hasn't yet come up in a serious game. I can only imagine that, in such a situation, both the rank and file of the originating square would be specified.)
Kingside castling is written as 0-0, and queenside castling as 0-0-0. (Note the use of zeroes, rather than the standard capital Os used in descriptive notation and PGN files.)[4]
When promoting a Pawn, suffix the abbreviation of the new piece, such as d8Q or dxe8N. (This is in contrast to the algebraic notation used in PGN files, which includes an equals sign, as in d8=Q or dxe8=N.)[4]
Moves can also be suffixed with + to signify check, # for checkmate, e.p. for En passant, and (=) for an offer of a draw. (FIDE also allows ++ as an alternative suffix for checkmate, but I've seen this used elsewhere to denote double check instead. # appears to be by far the most common way to signify checkmate.)[2][5]
The FIDE guide doesn't seem to mention how to note a resignation, nor whether a draw offer was accepted. It seems the abrupt ending of a game's notation signifies either.
References
- "FIDE Laws of Chess taking effect from 1 January 2023" FIDE, FIDE Handbook, Aug 2022
Note: Specifically, section "Appendix C. Algebraic Notation" - The Soviet Chess Primer Ilya Maizelis, 2014, ISBN 978-1-907982-99-6, p. 28-29
- The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal, 1997, ISBN 1-85744-202-4
- "Portable Game Notation Specification and Implementation Guide" rec.games.chess, Mar 1994
Note: Specifically, section "8.2.3.3: Basic SAN move construction" - "Portable Game Notation Specification and Implementation Guide" rec.games.chess, Mar 1994
Note: Specifically, section "8.2.3.5: Check and checkmate indication characters"
Chess guides: Algebraic notation guide
