Letter #21 -  2009

Sub:    White and black player
Date:   5/16/2009   10:04:11 PM EDT
From:  Joseph Carr
To:      service@chess-poster.com

I'm fairly new in the game of Chess but I already consider myself addicted to the game.

I just started to read Chess books and studying problems in your site and I would like to know how can I tell when a white or black player moves in a game.

Thank you.

Dear viewer,

Let's review these first two moves of a game: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6

1.  This number means the first pair of moves, white & black. By a general rule, white always move first in a game.


e4  This is the first move white makes which means white Pawn on square e2 moves to square e4.

e5  This is the first move black makes which means black Pawn on square e7 moves to square e5.

2.  This number means the second pair of moves, white & black.

Nf3  This is the second move white makes which means white's Knight on square g1 moves to square f3.

Nc6  This is the second move black makes which means black's Knight on square b8 moves to square c6.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6

Capital letters are used to represent major pieces: K = King, Q = Queen, R = Rook, B = Bishop, and N = Knight. When no capital letter is used, it is assumed a Pawn move was made.

Lower-case letters and numbers are used to name the coordinates of the chessboard: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Other signs used:

+ = check
X = capture
? = bad move
! = good move
1/2-1/2 = draw
1-0 = white wins
0-1 = black wins
e.p. = en-passant
!! = very good move
?? = very bad move
* = game in progress
# or ++ = checkmate
0-0 = kingside castling
0-0-0 = queenside castling

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