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Chess Guide

Chess is played on a square board of 8 rows (called ranks) and 8 columns (called files), giving 64 squares of alternating light and dark color, which are referred to as "light squares" and "dark squares". Ranks are numbered 1 through 8 and files are lettered a through h.

Moves are numbered with the first move listed being White's move and the second move listed being Black's move. For each move, the piece is listed followed by the destination square. (Note: There is no symbol for Pawn. If a piece is not listed in a move -- just the destination square -- it is implied that the move involves a pawn. )

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The Pieces:

N=Knight
R=Rook
B=Bishop
Q=Queen
K=King

Action Symbols:

King Side Castling = O-O
Queen Side Castling = O-O-O
Capture = x
Check = +
Checkmate = Mate, # or ++
Pawn Promotion = "=" (A pawn reaching the final rank becomes a queen in a process known as "queening" or "promotion." Or, if the player prefers, a rook, bishop or knight; this is called "underpromotion").
E.P. = En Passant (If a pawn moves two squares forward on its first move, it can be captured on the square it has skipped over, as if it had moved only one square, but only during the turn immediately after its two-square move and only by another pawn. This is called capturing en passant.)

For example:

5. Bd3+ Re4

On the fifth move, White's Bishop moves to square d3 and puts Black's King in check (check is indicated by the "+" sign). Black's response is to move the rook to square e4.

If check was not involved, there would be a simple in between moves. If a piece was captured, there would be an "x". For example, Rxh6 means the Rook is capturing the opposing player's piece on square h6.