Beginners 4 min read

Understanding Chess Notation: How to Read and Write Moves

By Coach Prasad 5 March 2025

Chess notation is the language of chess. It allows you to record your games, study master games, and follow along with instructional content. Once you learn it, you'll be able to read any chess book, follow online analysis, and review your own games to find improvements. The good news: it's surprisingly simple.

The Basics: Files, Ranks, and Squares

The chessboard is an 8x8 grid. The vertical columns are called files and are labelled a through h from left to right (from White's perspective). The horizontal rows are called ranks and are numbered 1 through 8 from bottom to top. Every square has a unique name combining its file letter and rank number — for example, e4 is the square on the e-file, 4th rank.

Piece Symbols

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

K — King
Q — Queen
R — Rook
B — Bishop
N — Knight (K is already taken by the King)

Pawns have no letter symbol. A pawn move is written as just the destination square. For example, e4 means a pawn moves to e4.

Writing a Move

To write a move, combine the piece symbol with the destination square. For example:

Nf3 — Knight moves to f3
Bc4 — Bishop moves to c4
Qd1 — Queen moves to d1
e4 — Pawn moves to e4 (no piece letter for pawns)

Captures

When a piece captures another piece, an x is placed between the piece symbol and the destination square. For example, Bxf7 means a bishop captures on f7. For pawn captures, the file the pawn came from is used: exd5 means the pawn on the e-file captures on d5.

Check and Checkmate

A plus sign (+) after a move means check. A hash or pound sign (#) means checkmate. For example:

Qh5+ — Queen moves to h5 with check
Qxf7# — Queen captures on f7 and it's checkmate

Castling

Castling has its own special notation:

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

Note that these use the capital letter O, not the number zero.

Tip: When two identical pieces can move to the same square, add the file (or rank) of the departing piece to clarify. For example, Rad1 means the rook on the a-file moves to d1, distinguishing it from the other rook.

Other Useful Symbols

! — Good move
!! — Brilliant move
? — Mistake
?? — Blunder
!? — Interesting move
?! — Dubious move

Putting It Into Practice

The best way to learn notation is to practise writing down your moves during a game. Start by playing slow games and recording each move as you make it. Within a few games, reading and writing notation will feel natural.

"Recording your games is the single best habit for improvement. You can't fix what you can't review."

In our Beginners Program, we ensure every student is comfortable with notation from the start. It's a skill that pays dividends throughout your chess journey. Questions about notation or anything else? Contact us — we're always happy to help.