Recording chess moves or sometimes called chess notation can be done in many different interesting ways during a game of chess. The two most popular ways to record moves in a game is to record what specific moves were made and to record what game pieces were moved. These two ways to record are important for the output of the game and to make sure that novice players are following all the rules of the game.



Notations have been created in many different languages all around the world as well as notation systems for online chess playing. Online chess playing has become very popular as a way to practice for tournaments etc., and to increase your brains thinking and analytical skills. Chess is a very slow, thought provoking game that is quiet and never rushed.

In tournaments and competitions there will also be recordings of each move a player makes in case any questions on play may come up later in review of the game. Chess is a game of critical thinking and strategy. It is not a very fast paced game so therefore it is fairly easy to be able to make all necessary recordings of each players move.

There are several different ways of recording or notation. Those include, algebraic recording, descriptive recording and coordinate notation.

With algebraic notation, each different chess piece is either a letter or symbol and will have a number with it. Notation are not long written out sentences of what moves a player made but more of a shorthand description of what moves occurred during game play. Each move will have at least one letter or symbol and number.

Descriptive notation is similar to algebraic notation with letter and symbols but is not as popular today and is used to be. Most tournaments and competitions do not allow this form of recording to be used anymore.

Coordinate style notations can be more difficult to read then the other two types. The checker board, which is made up of alternating white and black squares is laid out like a grid with letters and numbers depicting the rows and columns of the board. In coordinate recording, each move is indicated by the start point on the grid to the end point of each piece moved. For example, B4-D3. This form of recording is typically not used in games or tournaments but more widely used with computer games.

Chess is played with two people, one on each side of a checker board. Each player has a certain number of chess pieces in their own designated color. Each piece is represented as either a king, queen, bishop or pawn.

The object of the game is to protect your king from the other player and "checkmate" or get close to capturing the other teams king. Once the other player cannot move their king, then you have won the game and checkmated that opponent. These few simple moves are recorded and notated while the game is in play. Learning the notations use will make it easier for you to followed the games and strategies of others through chess playing books and recordings of historic games.