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How to Read Chess Notation: A 10-Minute Guide

Every chess book, video, puzzle and post-game analysis speaks the same language: algebraic notation. It looks like code — 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 — but there are only a handful of rules, and ten minutes here unlocks every piece of chess content ever written.

The grid

Every square has an address: files (columns) are letters a–h from White's left, ranks (rows) are numbers 1–8 from White's side. White's king starts on e1; the far corner to his right is h8. That's the entire coordinate system.

The pieces

Each piece gets a capital letter: King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Night (K was taken, so knights are N). Pawns get no letter at all — a move written as just a square is a pawn move.

Reading a move

A move is written as piece + destination:

• e4 — a pawn moves to e4.
• Nf3 — a knight moves to f3.
• Bb5 — a bishop moves to b5.

Captures add an x: Nxe5 means a knight captures whatever stood on e5. Pawn captures name the pawn's starting file: exd5 — the e-pawn captures on d5.

The decorations

• + — check: Qh5+.
• # — checkmate: Qxf7#.
• O-O / O-O-O — kingside / queenside castling.
• =Q — promotion: e8=Q means the pawn lands on e8 and becomes a queen.
• e.p. — occasionally added for an en passant capture.

When two pieces can make the same move

If both knights could jump to d2, the notation names the one that moved: Nbd2 (the knight from the b-file) or, when the files match, the rank: R1e2. You'll read these without noticing within a week.

Annotator's shorthand

Commentary symbols you'll meet everywhere: ! good move, !! brilliant, ? mistake, ?? blunder, !? interesting, ?! dubious. A famous scoreline like 21.Qxh7+!! Kxh7 22.Rh3# should now read like a sentence: queen takes h7 with check (brilliant), king recaptures, rook to h3, checkmate.

Try it

Here is the four-move Scholar's Mate in full: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 Nf6?? 4.Qxf7#. Cover the board, read it move by move, and picture each one. When you play on ChessDuel, the move list of every game is written in exactly this notation — reading your own games back is the fastest way to make it stick.