History of Chess Notation
How humans learned to record chess games, from poetic descriptions to the algebraic notation used today.
Descriptive Notation (Early)
The earliest chess manuscripts described moves in words: “The king's pawn moves two squares.” Moves were described relative to the piece that moved and where it went. This was verbose but clear. The Lucena manuscript (c. 1497) is one of the earliest surviving examples.
English Descriptive Notation
The standard system in English-speaking countries for centuries. Squares were named by the piece that started on the file: KP4 (King's Pawn 4), QN2 (Queen's Knight 2). A move was written as “P-K4” (pawn to king 4). Each player counted ranks from their own side: White's K4 was Black's K5. This was the notation used by Staunton, Morphy, and Fischer in his early career.
Stamma's Algebraic Notation
Philip Stamma, a Syrian-born chess player living in England, published a book using a coordinate system where squares were identified by letter and number (a1 through h8). This was the first version of algebraic notation. However, it did not catch on widely and descriptive notation remained dominant in the English-speaking world.
German Algebraic Notation
Continental Europe adopted algebraic notation much earlier than the English-speaking world. German notation used piece initials: K (Konig/King), D (Dame/Queen), T (Turm/Rook), L (Laufer/Bishop), S (Springer/Knight). The system was compact and unambiguous. Tarrasch and the German chess school helped popularize it throughout Central Europe.
0-0 and 0-0-0 for Castling
Howard Staunton proposed using 0-0 for kingside castling and 0-0-0 for queenside castling, representing the number of squares the king moves. This notation was gradually adopted internationally and is still used today.
Portable Game Notation Precursors
As chess columns in newspapers became popular, a need arose for compact notation. Various abbreviations were tried. The + symbol for check and # for checkmate became standard during this period. The x for captures was also standardized.
PGN (Portable Game Notation)
Steven Edwards developed PGN in 1993, but its conceptual roots go back to the 1970s computer chess community. PGN combined algebraic notation with metadata (player names, event, date, result) in a structured text format. It became the universal standard for recording and exchanging chess games electronically. Every chess database and website uses PGN.
[White "Bobby Fischer"]
[Black "Boris Spassky"]
[Result "1-0"]
1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 ...
FIDE Adopts Algebraic Notation
FIDE officially adopted algebraic notation as the international standard in 1981. English descriptive notation was finally phased out. Today, algebraic notation is universal: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5. The pieces are K, Q, R, B, N (Knight uses N to avoid confusion with King).
FEN and Digital Formats
Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) was developed to describe a single position in a single line of text. Example: rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1 (starting position). FEN is essential for chess databases, engines, and online play.
Same Opening, Different Notations
| Move | Descriptive | Algebraic (Modern) | Long Algebraic |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P-K4 P-K4 | e4 e5 | e2-e4 e7-e5 |
| 2 | N-KB3 N-QB3 | Nf3 Nc6 | Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 |
| 3 | B-B5 | Bb5 | Bf1-b5 |
| Result | 1-0, 0-1, or 1/2-1/2 | ||