Notation

You can use this notation to play with your friends using only text messages or to record your games. It is very simple once you get used to it. Here's how it works:

• Every square has its name, which is one letter and one number.
• The number represents the distance from the white side (row).
• The squares on the white side have the number zero, the next 3 rows are 1, 2 , 3 and the black side is 4.
• The letter represents the column.
• You can choose any "left within a side" column to be a, then name the remaining columns b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k and l in the anticlockwise direction.
• Squares on the starting side are named by the column they are adjacent to
• a0, c0, f0 and i0 could also be called l0, d0, g0 and j0, but the convention is to use the earlier letter in the alphabet
• The middle squares are m0 and m4

• To denote a move, just write the square you want to move your pawn to, e. g. e2
• If 2 different pawns can move to the square, write the column the moved pawn was in before the coordinates of the square, e. g. ef2 for a pawn moving from column e to f2
• x represents taking, e. g. xa1 for taking a pawn on a1

The beginning of a game could look like this:

1. b2 a3
2. c1 xb2
3. xb2 c2
4. b1 c1
5. e2 e3
6. ...

Notation for the checkmate expansion

Coming soon...