Chess Notation Symbols: The Complete Reference
TL;DR: Six piece letters (K Q R B N, and no letter for pawns), three move symbols (x for capture, + for check, # for checkmate), two castling codes (O-O and O-O-O), and a handful of annotation marks. That's the full symbol set for reading any chess book or database.
Piece letters
Every piece except the pawn has a one-letter abbreviation:
| Symbol | Piece | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| K | King | — |
| Q | Queen | — |
| R | Rook | — |
| B | Bishop | — |
| N | Knight | K was already taken by the King |
| (none) | Pawn | Pawn moves are just the destination square: e4, d5 |
These letters are standard in English. Other languages use different abbreviations — for example, German uses S (Springer) for Knight and L (Läufer) for Bishop.
Move symbols
xCaptureWritten between the moving piece and the destination square. For pawn captures, the file of the pawn is always included: exd5, not xd5.
Nxf3Knight captures the piece on f3exd5Pawn on the e-file captures on d5Bxe5Bishop captures on e5+CheckWritten at the end of the move. The opponent's king is under attack and must escape. A move that gives check is not forced — the opponent must respond, but they choose how.
Qh5+Queen moves to h5, giving checkNf7+Knight moves to f7, giving check (fork)#CheckmateWritten at the end of the move. The game ends here — the king is in check with no legal escape. Some older books use ++ for checkmate instead of #.
Qh7#Queen moves to h7, delivering checkmateRd8#Rook moves to d8, delivering checkmateCastling
Castling has its own notation — it doesn't follow the normal piece + square format:
O-OKingside castling — the short castleO-O-OQueenside castling — the long castleThese are capital letter O's, not zeroes. The king moves two squares towards the rook, then the rook jumps over to the other side of the king. Kingside (O-O) is more common; queenside (O-O-O) is called the long castle because the rook travels further.
Some older databases and books use 0-0 and 0-0-0 (with zeroes). Same meaning.
Pawn promotion
When a pawn reaches the back rank, it must promote to another piece. The promoted piece is written after an equals sign:
e8=QPawn advances to e8 and promotes to a queenexf8=NPawn on e-file captures on f8 and promotes to a knightd1=RPawn advances to d1 (Black's back rank) and promotes to a rookThe queen is overwhelmingly the most common choice. Promoting to a knight ("underpromotion") sometimes occurs to avoid stalemate or create an immediate fork.
Disambiguation
When two pieces of the same type can both move to the same square, the file or rank of the moving piece is added after the piece letter to remove ambiguity:
Nge2The knight on the g-file moves to e2 (not the other knight)Nbd2The knight on the b-file moves to d2R1e4The rook on rank 1 moves to e4 (not the rook on another rank)Rae1The rook on the a-file moves to e1Annotation symbols
Annotators add symbols after moves to evaluate them. These are written by the commentator — they're not part of the game record itself:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ! | Good move |
| !! | Brilliant move — striking or deeply calculated |
| ? | Mistake — a move that gives away advantage |
| ?? | Blunder — a serious error, often losing material or the game |
| !? | Interesting move — bold or risky, worth considering |
| ?! | Dubious move — probably not best but hard to refute immediately |
| = | Equal position |
| ∞ | Unclear or double-edged position |
| ± | White has a slight advantage |
| ∓ | Black has a slight advantage |
| +- | White has a decisive advantage |
| -+ | Black has a decisive advantage |
| ⊕ | White has a development advantage (less common) |
Modern engines add numerical evaluations (+0.3, -1.2, etc.) rather than these symbols, but you'll still see them in books and magazine annotations.
Result symbols
Games end with one of three results, recorded at the end of the PGN score:
1-0White wins0-1Black wins½-½Draw*Game in progress or result unknownPractice with these symbols
The best way to internalise notation is to use it actively — not just read a reference. Try these free drills:
Frequently asked questions
What does x mean in chess notation?
The lowercase x means a capture. It goes between the moving piece and the destination square. Nxf3 means a knight captures the piece on f3. For pawn captures, the file the pawn came from is written first: exd5 means a pawn on the e-file captures on d5.
What does + mean in chess notation?
+ means check — the king is under attack and must escape. It's written after the move: Qh5+ means the queen moves to h5 and gives check. # means checkmate, which ends the game.
What does O-O mean in chess?
O-O means kingside castling (the short castle). O-O-O means queenside castling (the long castle). These use capital letter O's, not zeroes. Castling moves the king two squares towards the rook, then the rook jumps to the other side of the king.
What does !! mean in chess annotation?
!! means a brilliant move — an exceptionally strong or surprising move that significantly changes the evaluation of the position. ! means a good move. ? means a mistake, and ?? means a blunder (a serious error that loses material or the game).