Chess notation

Descriptive chess notation was used in English- and Spanish-language literature until the late 20th century, but is now obsolescent.

In organized competition, both players are required to keep a record of the moves played on a score sheet.

If required, score sheets may be used to resolve disputes, for example about whether an illegal move has been made or whether a threefold repetition has occurred.

[1] All chess coaches strongly recommend the recording of one's games so that one can look for improvements in one's play.

Moves that result in checkmate can be marked with "#", "++", "≠", or "‡" or to indicate the end of game and the winner, instead of or in addition to "1–0" or "0–1".

Squares are designated from White's side of the board, files from left to right and ranks from nearest to farthest.

[17] This method was invented by Dmitry Alexeyevich Gringmuth but it is sometimes incorrectly called the Uedemann Code.

After rules were changed so that ciphers were allowed in telegrams, this system was replaced by the Gringmuth Notation.

This is useful for adjourning a game to resume later or for conveying chess problem positions without a diagram.

A position can also be recorded by listing the pieces and the squares they reside on, for example: White: Ke1, Rd3, etc.

In many tournaments players are required to record their games' notation on a score sheet.

A text from Shakespeare's time uses complete sentences to describe moves, for example, "Then the black king for his second draught brings forth his queene, and placest her in the third house, in front of his bishop's pawne", which nowadays would be written simply as 2...Qf6.

[20] The great 18th-century player Philidor used an almost equally verbose approach in his influential book Analyse du jeu des Échecs, for example, "The king's bishop, at his queen bishop's fourth square.