Algebraic notation (chess)

When you play chess, you have to keep track of where all the pieces are on the board. One way to do that is by using algebraic notation.

This means we use letters and numbers to represent the squares on the chessboard. The board has 8 rows, which are numbered 1-8 from top to bottom. The columns are labeled a-h from left to right.

So, for example, the square in the bottom left corner would be called "a1" - "a" because it's in the first column, and "1" because it's in the first row. The square in the middle of the board would be called "e4" - "e" because it's in the fifth column (remember we start counting from a!), and "4" because it's in the fourth row.

We use this notation to describe moves. For example, if the white player moves their pawn from e2 to e4 (two squares forward), we would write "e2-e4". If the black player moves their knight from g8 to f6 (one square forward and one to the left), we would write "Ng8-f6" (the "N" means "knight").

This way, we can record the entire game and look back on it later to analyze what happened.