When confusion is possible, it is customary to add whether King’s side or Queen’s side pieces are concerned, e.g.  KRx Q Kt.  In this notation it is necessary to bear in mind which Kt is the Q Kt, which R is the KR.  This becomes increasingly difficult as the game goes on and pieces change their places.  Many sets of chessmen have one Rook and one Knight stamped with a special sign, to show they are King’s side pieces.  This is not necessary in the case of Bishops:  a white KBis always on white squares, a white QBon black squares.

A more modern notation is the algebraic notation, which has been adopted in most countries.  It has the advantage of being unmistakably clear, and also more concise.  Here the perpendicular lines of squares (called files) are named with the letters a-h, from left to right, always from the point of view of White, and the horizontal lines of squares (called ranks) with numbers 1-8 as before, only with the distinction that the rank on which the White pieces stand is always called the first; thus the square we named White’s QB2 or Black’s QB7 is now called c2 in both cases.  Black’s QB2 (White’s QB7) is always c7.  In capturing, the square on which the capture takes place and not the piece captured is noted, for the sake of uniformity.  In the case of pawn moves, the squares only are noted.

O—­O stands for castles on the King’s side; O—­O—­O stands for castles on the Queen’s side; :  or x stands for captures; + for check.

In the following opening moves, both notations are used for the purpose of comparison: 

1.  P-Q 4 P-Q4 1. d4 d5 2.  P-QB4 P-K3 2. c4 e6 3.  Kt-QB3 P-QB4 3.  Ktc3 c5 4.  PxQP KPxP 4. cd:  ed:  5.  P-K4 QPxP 5. e4 de:  6.  P-Q5 Kt-KB3 6. d5 Ktf6 7.  B—­KKt5 B-K2 7.  Bg5 Be7 8.  K Kt-K2 Castles 8.  Ktge2 O—­O

In most books in which the algebraic notation is used, both squares of a move are written out for the benefit of the student.  The moves above would then look like this: 

1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3.  Ktb1-c3 c7-c5 4.  C4 x d5 e6xd5 5. e2-e4 d5xe4 6. d4-d5 Ktg8-f6 7.  Bc1-g5 Bf8-e 7 8.  Ktg1-e2 O—­O

To conclude:  I will give the denomination of the pieces in various languages: 

English ..............  K  Q  R  B  Kt P   Castles
French  ..............  R  D  T  F  C  P   Roq
Spanish ..............  R  D  T  A  C  P   Enrog
German and Austrian ..  K  D  T  L  S      O-O (O)
Italian ..............  R  D  T  A  C      O-O (O)
Russian ..............  KP F  L  C  K      O-O (O)
Dutch ................  K  D  T  L  P      O-O (O)
Scandinavian .........  K  D  T  L  S      O-O (O)
Bohemian .............  K  D  V  S  J      O-O (O)
Hungarian ............  K  V  B  F  H      O-O (O)

CHAPTER II