Chess Notation Explained: How to Read and Write Moves

Chess notation is how players write down moves, and it is much easier than it looks. Every square has a name made of a letter and a number, like e4, and every piece except the pawn has a capital letter, like N for knight. Put them together and Nf3 simply means "knight moves to f3". This guide walks through the squares, the letters and the few extra symbols, with a practice board so you can learn the squares by tapping them.

How Squares Get Their Names

Look at the board from White's side. The columns going up the board are called files, lettered a to h from left to right. The rows going across are called ranks, numbered 1 to 8 from White's side to Black's side.

Every square is just its file plus its rank. The bottom left corner, where White's rook starts, is a1. The square in front of White's king pawn after it moves two steps is e4. Black's king starts on e8. Always write the letter first and the number second, in small letters.

The Piece Letters

Each piece gets one capital letter. Pawns get no letter at all, which keeps the most common moves short.

Piece	Letter	Example	What It Means
King	K	Ke2	King moves to e2
Queen	Q	Qh5	Queen moves to h5
Rook	R	Rd1	Rook moves to d1
Bishop	B	Bc4	Bishop moves to c4
Knight	N	Nf3	Knight moves to f3
Pawn	none	e4	Pawn moves to e4

The knight is N because K already belongs to the king. If you need a reminder of how each piece moves, the free chess pieces cheat sheet prints on one page.

Captures, Checks and Checkmate

A few extra symbols tell the rest of the story. Put them in the order you read the move: piece, capture, square, then check.

Symbol	Meaning	Example
x	Captures	Bxf7 (bishop takes on f7)
+	Check	Qh5+ (queen to h5, check)
#	Checkmate	Qxf7# (queen takes on f7, checkmate)
O-O	Castle king side (short)	O-O, or 0-0 on a FIDE sheet
O-O-O	Castle queen side (long)	O-O-O, or 0-0-0
=Q	Pawn promotes	e8=Q (pawn reaches e8 and becomes a queen)
e.p.	En passant capture	exd6 e.p. (optional label)

Pawn captures are the one twist. Because a pawn has no letter, you write the file it came from instead: exd5 means the e-pawn captures on d5.

When Two Pieces Can Reach the Same Square

Sometimes both of your knights or both rooks could move to the same square, so "Nd2" would not say which one moved. Add the starting file, or the starting rank if the file is the same:

• Nbd2: the knight on the b-file goes to d2, not the one on f3.
• R1e2: the rook on rank 1 goes to e2, when both rooks sit on the e-file.

You only add that extra letter or number when it is needed. Most moves never need it.

Reading a Real Game

Games are written as numbered pairs: the move number, White's move, then Black's move. Here is the famous four move checkmate, often called Scholar's Mate:

If you only see Black's move in a book, it is written with three dots, such as 3...Nf6, which means "Black's third move was knight to f6".

Writing Moves on a Score Sheet

In serious classical games, both players write down every move on a score sheet. It settles arguments, proves a draw by repetition and lets you study the game afterwards. A few habits make it easy:

• Make the move first, then write it. FIDE rules say you play the move on the board before you record it.
• Write both sides. Your move and your opponent's move go on the same line.
• Keep it neat. A capital N and a small b look nothing alike, which matters when a game is checked later.

Print free sheets with the printable chess score sheet maker. In rapid and blitz you do not have to write anything down, which is why most casual club nights skip it.

Organising the event as well as playing in it? Free chess tournament software like ChessHost handles the pairings and standings while players focus on the board.

Comments Like ! and ?

Books and websites add little marks after a move to say what they think of it. They are opinions, not part of the move itself.

Mark	Meaning
!	Good move
!!	Brilliant move
?	Mistake
??	Blunder
!?	Interesting, worth a try
?!	Dubious