How to record your Chess Moves

Chess is an interesting game with endless possibilities and one of the ways to demonstrate this is with the use of recorded chess games. Everyone who has played and recorded chess games for long know that like finger prints which are very unique, chess games are equally very unique. Recording your chess games is one of the recommended ways to become better at chess and trust me when I say you’ll improve remarkably in a matter of weeks after getting used to it. Let’s get on with today’s lesson and not waste any more time.

How to Record Chess Moves

When recording chess moves you need to know about the coordinates of the board namely alphabets (a-h) and numbers (1-8) which are used to represent each of the 64 squares on the board. So for instance; 

Diagram showing the chess board with unique square identification

The first step to recording chess moves starts with you ruling the needed lines such as the table below;

White: John Stewart Black: Peter Menace Date: Tournament: 12th World Chess Open Time Control: 1 hour, 30 seconds added per move
	White	Black		White	Black
1	e4	e5	21
2	Nf3	Nc6	22
3			23
4			24
5			25
6			26
7			27
8			28
9			29
10			30
11			31
12			32
13			33
14			34
15			35
16			36
17			37
18			38
19			39
20			40

Pawn Moves – simply write the coordinates of the new square the pawn has moved to e.g if a pawn moves from e2 to e4 we simply e4 likewise from e7 to e5 we simply write e5 as shown above.

Recording Piece Moves – Pieces on the other hand must be represented by a capital letter which is usually the first letter from the piece’s spelling sign followed by the square the piece moved to. For instance a Knight which moves from g1 to f3 we write Nf3 or a bishop which moves from c1 to g5 we write Bg5 – the capital letter represents the first letter in the word of the piece when spelt out with the square where the piece lands coming next. The same applies to all the pieces namely; B- bishop, N- Knight, R- Rook, Q- Queen and K- King.

The Castling Sign – The only move in chess which involves two pieces namely; the king and the rook happens in the opening stage of the game and is recorded as O-O for kingside castling or queenside castling O-O-O respectively.

The Check Sign (+) is written behind the chess move. For instance let’s say, a black Bishop moves to b4 to attack the white king which is exposed on e1, we write Bb4+ to show that the move is also a check.

The Checkmate Sign (#) when a move results in a checkmate we use the # immediately after the move so let’s say the white queen checkmates the black king on f7 we write Qf7# 

The Capture Sign (X) when a piece or pawn move results in a capture the x sign is used to represent it. For instance if a black pawn on e5 captures a white pawn on d4 we write exd4 or if a black Bishop of e7 captures a white knight on g5 we write Bxg5.

Other Chess Signs and Notations to Know

There are other signs which are used to express the quality of a move or give an insight into which side stands better. These signs are optional and they are;

! – When written after a move means the move is strong but that is subjective

!! – This symbol represents a brilliant move meaning the move either leads to a winning advantage or wins the game outright

!? – This symbol represents an interesting move usually with an unclear or untested variation or outcome

?! – This symbol represents a dubious move meaning that the move in question wastes time or there is a better option which should have been played instead

? – This symbol represents a mistake especially when it is an inferior move in a position that is either equal or winning thus gifting the opponent the advantage or respite

?? – This symbol represents a blunder which means a losing move

++-: Two pluses and a minus sign mean white has the better position

--+: Two minuses and a plus sign mean black has the better position