How to read chess notation

Here's how to read chess notation: read each move as piece letter + destination square: Nf3 means a knight moves to f3, and a move with no letter, like e4, is a pawn move. Squares are named by a file letter (a–h, left to right from White's side) and a rank number (1–8, from White's side up). Then a few extra symbols: x is a capture, + is check, # is checkmate, and O-O is castling.

That's the whole system, called algebraic notation. FIDE, the world chess federation, recognises only this system for its events (FIDE Laws of Chess, Appendix C, in force since January 1, 2023). Below is a one-screen cheat sheet, then a real 13-move game of mine (I'm nacsol3 on Chess.com) decoded move by move.

Chess notation for beginners: the cheat sheet

Sources, checked October 27, 2026: FIDE's Laws of Chess, Appendix C for the letters, squares, x, +, # and the rule for two identical pieces; the PGN standard (sections 8.2.2 and 8.2.3) for O-O, =Q and the three dots for Black's moves.

How to read chess notation on a real game (algebraic, move by move)

Here is a complete 10-minute game I won as White (1115) against AnandShintre (1163) on November 12, 2024 (game on Chess.com):

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. c3 Qe7 6. Nbd2 h6 7. Qb3 O-O-O 8. Bb5 Qe8 9. Ne5 Bd6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Ba6+ Kd7 12. Bxd6 cxd6 13. Qb7#

Each number covers two moves, White's then Black's. Read it in small pieces:

• 1. d4 d5 — no letters, so both are pawn moves: White's pawn to d4, Black's pawn to d5.
• 2. Nf3 Nc6 — both sides bring out a knight.
• 3. Bf4 Bf5 — both bishops come out. Bishops only move on diagonals, so you can always work out which one moved.
• 6. Nbd2 — the extra letter matters here. Both of my knights (on b1 and f3) could reach d2, so the b says it was the one from the b-file.

r . . . k b n r
p p p . q p p p
. . n . p . . .
. . . p . b . .
. . . P . B . .
. . P . P N . .
P P . . . P P P
R N . Q K B . R

• 7... O-O-O — Black castles queenside: the king goes two squares toward the a-side and the rook jumps over it. (The engine slightly preferred moving the rook to b8, but castling was a normal move.)

r . . . k b n r
p p p . q p p .
. . n . p . . p
. . . p . b . .
. . . P . B . .
. Q P . P N . .
P P . N . P P P
R . . . K B . R

• 10. Nxc6 bxc6 — the x means a capture. My knight took the knight on c6, and Black's b-pawn took back. Pawn captures always start with the file the pawn came from.
• 11. Ba6+ Kd7 — the + means check. My bishop checked from a6, and the king stepped to d7.
• 12. Bxd6 cxd6 — bishop takes bishop on d6, and a pawn from the c-file takes back. Stockfish says taking with the king was necessary; the pawn recapture lost on the spot.
• 13. Qb7# — the # means checkmate. The game is over.

. . . r q . n r
p . . k . p p .
B . p p p . . p
. . . p . b . .
. . . P . . . .
. Q P . P . . .
P P . N . P P P
R . . . K . . R

Chess notation explained: the details that confuse beginners

• Files and ranks never change. a1 is always White's bottom-left corner, even when you play Black and the board is flipped on your screen. FIDE's Appendix C counts files "from left to right for White and from right to left for Black".
• The x, + and # are optional in FIDE's rules. A paper scoresheet can say Bd6 for a capture. Apps always add them, so online games are easier to read.
• Castling and promotion look slightly different in books. FIDE writes castling with zeros (0-0) and promotion as d8Q; Chess.com and Lichess files follow PGN, with the letter O (O-O) and an equals sign (d8=Q).
• Engines use a long form. You'll sometimes see e2e4 or g1f3: square from, then square to. FIDE accepts this too, and it's what engines like Stockfish use internally.
• Other languages use other letters. FIDE lets players use their own language's initials, so a French book writes the bishop as F (fou). Many printed books use small piece figures instead of letters.
• The marks after a move are opinions, not notation. The PGN standard lists ! good, ? poor, !! very good, ?? very poor, !? speculative and ?! questionable. Lichess puts ?!, ? and ?? on moves it labels as inaccuracies, mistakes and blunders (its open-source code). What those labels measure is explained in inaccuracy vs mistake vs blunder.

Why reading notation helps you improve

Every game review is written in notation. When Stockfish says "best was Qb3" or shows a line like 9... Nge7 10. c4 a6, you need to read it to follow the idea. If you're starting out, the guide to reading Stockfish analysis picks up from here, and the beginner's guide to analyzing your games shows what to look for once you can follow the moves.

A good habit: open one of your finished games, read the first ten moves out loud from the move list, and find each square on the board before you click.

How Chess Coach helps

Chess Coach is a connector for Claude and ChatGPT that reviews your finished Chess.com and Lichess games with Stockfish on our own server. It doesn't expect you to read notation fluently: the key moments appear on an interactive board with a red arrow for your move and a green arrow for the better one, and the explanation is written in plain words. If a line of notation in the review doesn't make sense, ask your assistant to translate it move by move. The free plan includes one in-depth review a day. Connect Chess Coach or read the docs.