Chess Notation Made Simple: A Complete Guide to Algebraic Notation

June 2025 · 5 min read

Algebraic notation is the universal language of chess. It's how players, books, websites, and apps communicate chess moves. Whether you're a beginner or returning to chess after years, this guide will have you reading and writing chess notation in minutes.

The Basics: Files and Ranks

A chessboard has 64 squares, each identified by a unique coordinate:

Files (columns) are labeled a through h, from left to right (from White's perspective)
Ranks (rows) are labeled 1 through 8, from bottom to top (from White's perspective)

So the bottom-left square is a1, and the top-right square is h8.

Piece Letters

Each piece (except the pawn) is represented by a single capital letter:

Piece	Letter	Example
King	`K`	`Ke2` — King moves to e2
Queen	`Q`	`Qd5` — Queen moves to d5
Rook	`R`	`Ra1` — Rook moves to a1
Bishop	`B`	`Bc4` — Bishop moves to c4
Knight	`N`	`Nf3` — Knight moves to f3
Pawn	(none)	`e4` — Pawn moves to e4

Writing a Move

The basic format is: Piece + Destination Square

Examples:

Nf3 — Knight to f3
Bc4 — Bishop to c4
e4 — Pawn to e4 (no piece letter for pawns)
d5 — Pawn to d5

Captures

When a piece captures another piece, add an x between the piece and the destination:

Bxe5 — Bishop captures on e5
Nxd4 — Knight captures on d4
exd5 — Pawn on the e-file captures on d5 (for pawn captures, include the originating file)

Special Moves

Castling

O-O — Kingside castling (short castle)
O-O-O — Queenside castling (long castle)

Check and Checkmate

+ after a move means check: Qh5+
# after a move means checkmate: Qf7#

Pawn Promotion

When a pawn reaches the 8th rank (or 1st for Black), add = and the piece letter:

e8=Q — Pawn promotes to Queen on e8
a1=N — Pawn promotes to Knight on a1

En Passant

Written like a normal pawn capture: exd6 (with "e.p." sometimes added for clarity).

Disambiguation

When two identical pieces can move to the same square, add extra information to clarify which piece moved:

Rae1 — Rook from the a-file moves to e1 (when there's also a Rook on, say, f1)
N5d4 — Knight from the 5th rank moves to d4
R1a3 — Rook from the 1st rank moves to a3

Game Results

Games end with one of three results:

1-0 — White wins
0-1 — Black wins
½-½ — Draw

A Complete Example

Here's the famous Scholar's Mate in algebraic notation:

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

Read it as: "1. Pawn to e4, Pawn to e5. 2. Bishop to c4, Knight to c6. 3. Queen to h5, Knight to f6. 4. Queen captures on f7, checkmate."

Don't want to write notation by hand? 2taps generates it automatically.

Record Games with 2taps

What Is PGN?

PGN (Portable Game Notation) is the standard file format for storing chess games. It includes the move list plus metadata like player names, date, event, and result. Here's what a PGN looks like:

[Event "Club Championship"] [Date "2025.06.15"] [White "Alice"] [Black "Bob"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 1-0

PGN files can be imported into virtually any chess software for analysis, study, or sharing. Apps like 2taps automatically generate PGN for every game you record.