Descriptive chess notation, or just descriptive notation is a notation for recording chess games, and at one time was the most popular notation for doing so. It has been superseded by abbreviated algebraic notation, as the latter is more brief. However chess players may find older chess books using this notation. Descriptive notation exists in many language-based variants, the most prevalent being English descriptive notation and Spanish descriptive notation. Chess notation is the term for systems that record the moves made during a game of chess and several have been developed. ... Chess is an abstract strategy board game for two players that is played both recreationally and competitively. ... Algebraic chess notation is the method used today by all competition chess organizations and most books, magazines, and newspapers to record and describe the play of chess games. ...

Naming the pieces

Each piece's name in descriptive notation is based on its initial. English speaking players use:

• K for king
• Q for queen
• R for rook
• B for bishop
• N or Kt for knight (Kt is obsolete)
• P for pawn.

German speakers use: Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... Queen. ... Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... A bishop (♗♝) is a piece in the board game of chess. ... The knight moves in an L shape. ... Initial placement of the pawns. ...

• K as König for king (K)
• D as Dame for queen (Q)
• T as Turm for rook (R)
• L as Läufer for bishop (B)
• S as Springer for knight (N)
• B as Bauer for pawn (P)

Spanish speakers use:

• R as Rey for king
• D for queen
• T for rook
• A for bishop
• C as Caballero for knight
• P for pawn.

Naming squares on the board

English Descriptive Chess Notation of the squares.

In descriptive chess notation each square has two names, depending on black's or white's viewpoint. Each file is given a name corresponding with the piece that occupies the first rank at the start of the game. Thus the queen's file is named 'Q' and the king's file is named 'K'. Image File history File links EnglishDescriptiveChessNotation. ... Queen. ... Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ...

Since there are two each of the remaining pieces on the first rank, it is necessary to distinguish between them. The pieces on the queen's side of the board (left for white, right for black) are named with respect to the queen i.e. 'queen's rook', 'queen's knight' and 'queen's bishop' and have the shortened names 'QR', 'QN' and 'QB' respectively. Similarly, the pieces on the king's side (right for white, left for black) are named with respect to the king i.e. 'king's rook', 'king's knight' and 'king's bishop' and have the shortened names 'KR', 'KN' and 'KB' respectively. The rank is given a number, ranging from 1 to 8, with rank 1 being closest to the player. This method of naming the squares means that each square has one name from white's point of view and another from black's. For instance, the bottom left square ('a1' in algebraic chess notation) is called "queen's rook 1" (QR1) by white and "queen's rook 8" (QR8) by black.

Notation for moves

Each move of a piece is indicated by a sequence of characters. Castling has its own sequence of characters and 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. Kt-QB3 (knight to queen's bishop 3).

• 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.

• Promotion: Parentheses are used to indicate promotion, with the piece resulting from the promotion in parentheses: 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 (checkmate), resigns, and draw.

Typically, the move will record only enough information to make the move unambiguous. 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. This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. ... This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. ... Promotion is a chess term describing the transformation of a pawn that reaches the eighth square into the players choice of a queen, knight, bishop, or rook. ... En passant (from French: while [the pawn is] passing) is a maneuver in the board game of chess. ... In games such as chess, shogi and xiangqi, a check is an immediate threat to capture the king. ... Checkmate (frequently shortened to mate) is a situation in chess (and in other boardgames of the chaturanga family) in which one players king is under attack and there is no way to meet that threat; it is a check from which there is no escape. ... A resignation is the formal act of giving up ones office or position. ... In chess, a draw is one of the possible outcomes of a game, the others being a win for white and a win for black. ...

Another method in making the move unambiguous, the location of a capture or the starting point of a move may also be shown, delimited with parentheses or a slash, as BxN/QB6, or R(R3)-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 ellipses ... 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.

Advantages

By identifying each square with reference to the player on move, descriptive notation better reflects the symmetry of the game's starting position ("both players opened with P-K4 and planned to play B-KN2 as soon as possible"), and because the pieces captured are named, it is easy to skim over a game record and see which ones have been taken at any particular point.

The maxim that "a pawn on the seventh is worth two on the fifth" makes sense from both Black's perspective as well as White's perspective.

Disadvantages

Confusion can arise because the squares are named differently. Errors may be made when not realizing that a move is ambiguous. In comparison, abbreviated algebraic notation represents the same moves with fewer characters, on average, and can avoid confusion since it always represents the same square in the same way.