Descriptive Notation - Notation For Moves

Notation For Moves

Each move is indicated by a sequence of characters which is structured based on the move's type. Special indicators are added to the end of the sequence if relevant.

• Move that is not a capture: A move without capture is represented by the piece's name, a hyphen and the square at the end of the move e.g. N-QB3 (knight to queen's bishop 3), P-QN4 (pawn to queen's knight 4). In some literature, if the move is to the first rank, the "1" is omitted.

• Capture: A move with capture is represented by the piece's name, a cross (x) and the destination square is identified by the name of the piece captured e.g. QxN (queen captures knight).

• Castling: The notation 0-0 is used for castling kingside and 0-0-0 for castling queenside. The word "Castles" is sometimes used instead, particularly in older literature.

• Promotion: Parentheses are used to indicate promotion, with the piece resulting from the promotion in parentheses: P-R8(Q) or after a slash: P-R8/Q. Sometimes an equal sign is used instead, as in P-R8=Q.

• Special terms: Special indicators that are appended to the move include e.p. (en passant), ch or + (check), mate or ++ (checkmate), resigns, and draw.

Typically, the full designation for a piece or a file is shortened to just the last part (indicating a 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 PxP if it is the only one possible, or as BPxP if only one of the player's bishop's pawns can capture another pawn, or as QBPxP, or PxQBP, or other such variations.

Disambiguation of pieces using notations like QBP and KR becomes awkward once they have moved away from their starting positions (or starting files, for pawns) 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 position or the location of a capture, delimited with parentheses or a slash, as BxN/QB6, or R(QR3)-Q3. Sometimes only the rank or file is indicated, as 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's no appropriate White move to use (e.g., if the moves are interrupted by commentary) then an ellipsis ... is used in its place.

In Spanish descriptive notation the hyphen is not needed, as the rank serves as separator. So the Sicilian opening (1. P-K4 P-QB4 in English) would be written 1. P4R P4AD. This is also the method used in French and Iberian countries (Hooper & Whyld 1992:106).