Chess Notepad
Easily save over the board chess games while mastering algebraic notation without trying.
How to Note Moves
This app makes chess notation easy while training you how to do it on your own. Each player will get a series of notation buttons once they've made their move and stopped their clock.
Watch this 3-minute video explaining chess notation.
Step 1: Note the piece
First, note the kind of piece you moved by tapping the corresponding letter.
- K = King
- Q = Queen
- B = Bishop
- N = Knight
- R = Rook
- = Pawn
Knights are known as N since K is reserved for the king. Pawns don't even get a letter, the blank button is for them.
Steps 2 & 3: Note the destination
The board is composed of files (columns) and ranks (rows). They are both named starting from white's perspective. The file with white's leftmost rook is "a", the next one is "b" and so on until "h". The rank where white's major pieces start is "1", white's pawns start on "2" and so on. This arrangement means that black's leftmost rook starts on the h file and the 8th rank. In this system, each square has a name such as f4 or b8.
In most cases, noting the piece and the destination is all you need to do. However, some circumstances require more information.
Special Circumstances
Disambiguating Pieces
Depending on how the board is arranged, the same type of piece may legally be able to move to the same square. For example, if both white rooks are on the first rank with no pieces between them, either rook may move anywhere between them. In this instance you would need to specify the square the rook came from as well as its destination square.
You only need to provide either the file or rank of the starting square since that is almost always enough to disambiguate. However sometimes you need to specify both rank and file and it never hurts to specify both. You can do this by pressing "Note Starting Position" after you've indicated which piece you've moved.
Pawn Promotion
When a pawn reaches the other end of the board it will get promoted. In this case, you'll be presented with options to indicate which piece the pawn was promoted to (usually a queen).
How the Clock Works
Clocks are set as "N minutes | N increment seconds". The increment is added after each move.
The screen is divided in half. Black taps his or her clock to start the other clock and the game.