Really nothing to it once you get the hang of it. A few pointers to help ease the pain =>
- All you are conveying is an accurate and unambiguous way of saying "this piece moved from this square to that square.
- Both this and that squares are part of a 8 x 8 grid. It would be confusing to use the same numbering scheme 1,2,3 for both rows and columns, hence they use letters for the horizontal axis (called file) and numbers for the vertical axis (rank).
- Can you name the 4 corners? Sure, a1, a8, h1, h8.
- Now you know how to specify the squares...what about the pieces? If you know where the pieces are to begin with, then you dont' have to specify which one.
For example => from a starting position at the beginning of the game
- e2-e4 is moving the white e-pawn two squares forward.
- g8-f6 is moving the Black knight on g8 to f6.
- f1-c4 is moving the Bishop on f1 to c4.
- A time came when people wanted to make it even easier to write down. So they skipped the "starting" square.
But now, our examples above become a little tricky.
e4 ? Well, only the pawn can even go to e4 so that checks out.
f6 ? Waitasecond....does that mean the pawn on f7 moved to f6? Or was it the Knight...I'm confused! What do you do?
Easy => If it is a piece , specify the piece. (Q = queen, K = king, N = Knight, B=Bishop). If it is a pawn, you dont' need to.
Therefore =>
1...Nf6 => Means Knight to f6 and just plain 1...f6 means "pawn to f6".
- Finally => Special symbols to know. There are a lot, but the most important ones are
x : capturing => for example => N x d5 (Knight captures on d5)
+ : Check! for example => Rd8+ : Rook moves to d8 and gives check.
# : Checkmate : For example Qe8# (Queen moves to e8 and forces checkmate)
Hope this helps a little :)
I am a total newb here but I really like the Mentor. My problem is I dont understand the space/piece label system. I am trying but need a push in the right direction. Is there a Rosetta stone that I can look at so I may learn the alphanumeric code?
Thanks