Files are lettered from a to h from queenside to kingside.
Ranks are numbered from 1 to 8 from White's starting position to Black's.
Each square has an address including the letter and the number.
K is King
Q is Queen
R is Rook
B is Bishop
N is Knight
Moves are numbered. Each move includes White's move on the left and Black's on the right.
When a piece moves, you write the capital letter naming the piece, then the square it goes to. Ex: Ne4 means a knight moved to e4.
If a pawn moves, ignore naming the piece, and it is understood to be a pawn move.
If you capture a piece, put an "x" before the square address. Ex: Nxe4 means a knight captured something on e4.
If a pawn captures, name the pawn by the lowercase file letter it came from.
Whenever which piece moves is still ambiguous, give further information. Ex: Rae1 implies either rook could move to e1, so this means the rook on the a file is the one to move.
O-O means castle kingside; O-O-O means castle queenside.
When a pawn promotes, add = and the piece the pawn promotes to. Ex: e8=Q means the pawn on the e file advanced to the end and promoted to Queen.
If there is an ambiguity due to en passant, specify the pawn also with the rank.
In case of check, put + at the end of the move.
If checkmate, put # at the end of the move.
Also (for annotating and comments):
!! is "excellent move"
! is "good move"
!? is "interesting move"
?! is "dubious move"
? is "bad move" or "mistake"
?? is "blunder"
I understand almost everything when it comes to the basics of chess but what I dont understand is the way you record each move you take. I would like some help on this if you could refer me to a link or care to explain it here I would be very thankful. I want to become a stronger chess player and evalute my chess games but I need to know how to read my recorded games and my moves/oppenents moves.
Thanks!