Descriptive notation: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:07, 14 December 2024

Revision as of 23:10, 14 December 2024

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* ''Non-capturing move'': A move without capture is notated by the piece's name, a hyphen and the destination square, e.g. '''N–QB3''' (knight to queen's bishop 3) and '''P–QN4''' (pawn to queen's knight 4).

* ''{{chessgloss|capture|Capture}}'': A capture is notated by the piece's name, a cross ("x"), and the name of the piece captured, e.g. '''QxNQ×N''' (queen captures knight).

* ''[[Castling]]'': The notation '''O-O''' is used for castling {{chessgloss|kingside}} and '''O-O-O''' for castling {{chessgloss|queenside}}. The word "Castles" is sometimes used instead, particularly in older literature, in which case it may be necessary to disambiguate between kingside and queenside castling; this may be done by specifying the rook or side, i.e. "Castles KR" or "Castles queenside".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Reinfeld|first=Fred|title=The Seventh Book of Chess|publisher=Barnes & Noble|year=1963|isbn=9780064632744|___location=U.S.}}</ref>

* ''[[Promotion (chess)|Promotion]]'': Parentheses are used to indicate promotion, with the promotion piece enclosed in parentheses, e.g. '''P–R8(Q)'''.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1963/07/25/archives/chess-pr8-q-then-pr8-q-leads-to-some-fireworks.html</ref> Sometimes a slash or an equal sign is used, e.g. '''P–R8/Q''', '''P–R8=Q'''.

* ''Special terms and symbols'': Special indicators that are appended to the move include "e.p." (''[[en passant]]''), "ch" or "+" ([[Check (chess)|check]]), "?" (a [[question mark]] for a bad move), "!" (an [[exclamation mark]] for a good move), "mate" or "++" ([[checkmate]]), "[[Rules of chess#Resigning|resigns]]" and "[[draw (chess)|draw]]".

Typically, the full designation for a piece or a file is shortened to just the last part (indicating type of piece) whenever this does not produce ambiguity. For example, the move KP–K4 would always be written '''P–K4''' since only one pawn can move to K4 without capturing; the move Q–QB4 would be written '''Q–B4''' whenever Q–KB4 is not a legal move. A pawn capturing a pawn may be shown as '''PxPP×P''' if it is the only one possible, or as '''BPxPBP×P''' if only one of the player's bishop's pawns can capture a pawn, or as '''QBPxPQBP×P''', '''PxRPP×RP(R6)''' or '''PxQBPP×QBP''' or other such variations.

Disambiguation of pieces using notations like QBP and KR becomes awkward once the pieces have left their starting positions (or for pawns, left their starting files), and is impossible for pieces created by promotion (such as a second queen). So as an alternative, moves may also be disambiguated by giving the starting square or the square of a capture, delimited by parentheses or a slash, e.g. '''BxNB×N/QB6''' or '''R(QR3)–Q3'''. Sometimes only the rank or file is indicated, e.g. '''R(6)xN'''.

When listing the moves of a game, first the move number is written, then the move by White followed by the move by Black. If there is no appropriate move by White to use (e.g. if the moves are interrupted by commentary) then an ellipsis ("…") is used in its place.

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#N–KB3 N–QB3

#B–B4 B–B4

#P–QN4 BxNPB×NP

#P–B3 B–R4

#P–Q4 PxPP×P

#O–O P–Q6

#Q–N3 Q–B3

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#R–K1 KN–K2

#B–R3 P–N4

#QxPQ×P R–QN1

#Q–R4 B–N3

#QN–Q2 B–N2

#N–K4 Q–B4

#BxQPB×QP Q–R4

#N–B6 ch PxNP×N

#PxPP×P R–N1

#QR–Q1 QxNQ×N

#RxNR×N ch NxRN×R

#QxPQ×P ch KxQK×Q

#B–B5 dbl ch K–K1

#B–Q7 ch K–B1

#BxNB×N mate

}}

English descriptive notation with variants:

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#P4CD AxP

#P3A A4T

#P4D PxPP×P

#O–O P6D

#D3C D3A

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#C4R D4A

#AxPD D4T

#C6A+ PxCP×C

#PxPP×P T1C

#TD1D DxC

#TxC+ CxT

#DxP+ RxDR×D

#A5A+ R1R

#A7D+ R1A