In the previous post we have seen how each square of the chess board can be identified by a letter and a number. In chess notation we also identify the pieces. Apart from the pawns each type of piece is identified by an upper-case letter. Most of the time this is the first letter of the name of the piece which makes this notation language dependant, but English-speaking players use K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop, and N for knight (since K is already used).

Now the moves can be notated by the letter of the moving piece followed by both the starting and ending position separated by a hyphen. When the piece makes a capture, an x is used instead of the hyphen.
Castling is indicated by the special notations O-O for king-side castling and O-O-O for queen-side castling. A pawn promotion is followed by a letter to indicate the chosen piece.
If a move places the opponent’s king in check the notation “+” is added. Checkmate is indicated by a “#”. At the end of the game the game result is added (1-0, 0-1 or ½-½).

As an example of this long algebraic notation the moves of Fool’s Mate can be notated as:
1. f2-f3 e7-e5
2. g2-g4 Qd8-h4# 0-1

Now continue by learning the Short algebraic notation.