Memorizing the Algebraic Coordinates.

I've been playing chess for a few years, but I still don't know the algebraic coordinates! As a result, I cannot record my games effectively and Chess Mentor is not very helpful.

Do any of you have any tips for learning the name of each space (i.e. d4)?

A simple method: buy an instructive anthology of chess games like Chernev's Logical Chess: Move by Move, set up a real board with pieces (best would be a board without coordinates), and play through all the games on the board. You'll have learned the coordinates long before you're through the book, and you'll have learned other useful things too along the way.

Like sapientdust said, just play through a few dozen master games from a book with annotations. It kind of makes a more concrete impression in the memory

I had the same problem. My mind resisted learning the coordinates because I thought it would be difficult (and having used descriptive notation for a long time). Finally I decided to buckle down and learn, and it turned out to be easy.

   A and H are the wingmost (just made a new word!) files.

   D and E respectively are the queen and king files and the center.

   B is next to A and G is next to H, the knight files or wingmost but one.

   C is next to D and F is next to E.

The ranks are even easier.

(Now, if I could only play this game.)

I don't think Chess Mentor is meant to help out with your problem. Pay attention to sapiendust and trysts, I think they're on to something here. You should be able to tell what color every sq on the bd is without seeing the bd - which requires being well acquainted with AN.

Remember that the (horizontal) ranks of soldiers (and chess pieces) march up the files (the vertical rows between players) towards the enemy army. As White, the files are labled A thru H from QR1 (a) to KR1 (h) and the ranks are numbered 1-8, with your pieces on the first rank, pawns on the 2nd rank, Blacks pawns on the 7th rank and Blacks pieces on the 8th rank. And of course this is all reversed when you play Black. Check this out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebraic_chess_notation

One of the games/exercises in Maurice Ashley's Learn Chess! app flashes up random square names and you have to touch the corresponding square. It's against the clock, with levels of difficulty.

It can be tricky to identify where is a1 in some endgame problems. On numerous occasions I tried to solve the upside-down problem for a few seconds before realizing where is a1...

I always check the board for "white right" in the right hand corner.  Also, since I'm a dinosaur from the days of descriptive English notation (EN), I've had to become "bi-notational".  The easiest way to do that is to play over EN games (from older books) with a GUI and watch the computer translation for the moves.  I also use chessboards with the rank and file alphanumeric characters on the board sides and bottom.

Kirk? a stranger to coordinates? I don't believe it!

(Please desist from defaming my idol)

My point was I can't really use Chess Mentor unless I know the coordinates fluently. Thanks for the article; I can figure out what a squre is called, but it usually takes me a couple seconds. From what everyone is saying here, I'll practice it a lot and hopefully that will help.

It wouldn't be too much of a problem if I didn't have to learn it from both sides of the board: white and black.

I'm one who's made the switch. Just practice, and not a lot of that; yeah, Nf3 by black is not common. You'll get used to it. Really all I can suggest is practice.

By all means play on a board that's marked if it helps. I personally dislike the look of wooden boards with algebraic markings on them, but there are some reasonably inexpensive ones around and the ubiquitious vinyl boards are hard to find *without* notation.

yeah im in high school games so I take notation there and then i re-play those games and play professional games with my set

My advice is to just take some time and concentrate on this one thing alone. Trying to "learn" the coordinates by playing through games is only going to double or triple the time it takes to learn them. It's like trying to learn your multiplication tables by doing multiplication problems or trying to learn to play the C major scale by playing pieces written in C. You have to memorize the tables and the scales by themselves; it's the fastest and most efficient use of your time.

Here's my advice: Get out your board WITHOUT the coordinates written on it (that's just a crutch), and review the ranks and files a few times from each side. You don't need to turn the board around, of course, just turn your mind around.

Then put your finger on a square and name it from the white side. Then immediately name it from the black side. For example, I'm looking at the board hanging on my wall as I write this and seeing that a1/h8 are the same. D4/d5, g3/b6, etc. Note that the d and e files are the same no matter which side you're looking from; that will help. Maybe take a knight and move him around, naming every square as you go. Do it for a little while from the white side and then switch over and try again as black.

Now, it's been a while since I've done this exercise, so I'm going to spend a little time with it this evening refreshing myself. But it's something that you absolutely must study in isolation a few minutes every day until you've mastered it completely. It really doesn't take long at all, and it's the only sure way to be able to record your games OTB.

sorry i don't really understand why memorizing the squares is important. as long as you know the order of the first 8 letters of the alphabet it takes literally 2 seconds to figure out what square is what. try flipping a coin onto an empty board and calling out as quickly as you can what square the coin lands on. 

Thank you very much. This is a good idea, and I will use it.

Thank you! Very helpful!

What i've done is is memorize the games AN of "einstein vs. oppenheimer" and "fischer vs. Byrne" then whenever i'm bored i play the games out in my head, it's not difficult and helps you memorize the boards coordinates.