you should learn notation from both sides. even advanced players can sometimes get mixed up, but practice makes perfect.
Algebraic Notation As Black
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Mar 25, 2025
0
#3
Thanks for the advice, I'll work on improving black and white at the same time. It's confusing when I play several rapid or blitz games in a row and alternate between black and white so am going to use clear gel that I can write on and put over the laptop screen so every square is marked without obscuring the board and I can have one each. Something I've never done is write down the notation while I'm playing so I'm going to buy/make some scoresheets and start notating all of my games. I used to draw chess boards on squared paper to try and speed up my vision but it's something I should be doing every day.
When I look at a knight I see the squares it can go to in my peripheral vision so I don't have to dart my eyes around but should I be able to also know those eight squares by notation? Sometimes I need extra time to see what my opponent is planning with their knights so I think I would be faster if I can see a knight and instantly know the notation of where it can move to on one, two or even three hops. I imagine GMs have that kind of analysis going on.
Mar 26, 2025
0
#4
Some of the your square visualization questions sound topically similar to Rensch's tutorial, https://www.chess.com/video/player/achieving-full-board-awareness, which you might want to check out. Also, scholastic chess coach NM Elliott Neff, has, IIRC, another video on how he does blindfold chess, which is apparently something he teaches gradually to chess students from the beginning.
Regarding knight and eye movement, it has indeed been shown in eye tracking studies that master chess players move their eyes much less than weaker players. There has also been some writing from blindfold players that suggest that they think more about what their pieces attack. For example, Rayner says he visualizes a knight as an "octopus". Buckley says that pieces emit an "aura" indicating what squares they potentially attack, and that he "fuses" the piece with that aura.
There's also a chess.com Blindfold Chess club where some related topics have come up.
Mar 26, 2025
0
#5
You can download score sheets from Regency Chess for free ..... why re-invent the wheel ;-)
Mar 29, 2025
0
#6
Takadrenaline wrote:
Some of the your square visualization questions sound topically similar to Rensch's tutorial, https://www.chess.com/video/player/achieving-full-board-awareness, which you might want to check out. Also, scholastic chess coach NM Elliott Neff, has, IIRC, another video on how he does blindfold chess, which is apparently something he teaches gradually to chess students from the beginning.
Regarding knight and eye movement, it has indeed been shown in eye tracking studies that master chess players move their eyes much less than weaker players. There has also been some writing from blindfold players that suggest that they think more about what their pieces attack. For example, Rayner says he visualizes a knight as an "octopus". Buckley says that pieces emit an "aura" indicating what squares they potentially attack, and that he "fuses" the piece with that aura.
There's also a chess.com Blindfold Chess club where some related topics have come up.
Thanks for the link and it's encouraging to know the top players adopt their own ways of visualising the pieces. Seeing the position in peripheral vision is a skill I'm improving and it's definitely helping to find captures and hung pieces a lot faster. I imagine the lines from the queen, bishops and rooks as a line radiating outwards to the ends of the board like the pulsating approach lights of a runway and I try and absorb the pieces each line travels through in my peripheral vision first to find candidate moves faster.
https://makeagif.com/gif/alfs2-l68Jql
30 days ago
0
#7
When playing as Black, verbally state moves as you make them to build familiarity.
@Chess147 Click on Vision and use it. It helps.
RE3_14 wrote:
what do you mean, notation reversed? that your pieces are on the 8th row?
He is referring to blacks view point being reversed. White left to right a,b,c... Black left to right H,G,F... White counts up 1,2,3... Black upwards is 8.7.6...
29 days ago
0
#11
bigD521 wrote:
RE3_14 wrote:
what do you mean, notation reversed? that your pieces are on the 8th row?
He is referring to blacks view point being reversed. White left to right a,b,c... Black left to right H,G,F... White counts up 1,2,3... Black upwards is 8.7.6...
ok thanks... That's what I thought, but I never thought it was an issue... I have others though 
29 days ago
0
#12
Apologies for promoting "the other site" but Lichess has a neat coordinate trainer where you can practice naming the squares from either whites, blacks or a ramdom viewpoint.
xscouse wrote:
Apologies for promoting "the other site" but Lichess has a neat coordinate trainer where you can practice naming the squares from either whites, blacks or a ramdom viewpoint.
Would it surprise you to learn that chess.com has that too?
I understand algebraic notation but it can take me a few seconds to identify a square similar to reading musical notation which I can't sight read but I know the notation so given enough time I can learn from sheet music.
I find it very confusing playing as black with the notation reversed so is it a good idea to leave black notation until I'm much more proficient with white notation or is it best to learn the notation for white and black from the start?