Chess Symbols and Notation Guide — How to Read and Write Chess Moves

Introduction

Chess notation is a compact way to record moves. This guide explains common chess symbols, piece glyphs you can copy, and notation used in PGN and articles.

Piece symbols (Unicode)

Here are the standard chess piece glyphs you can copy and paste:

White: ♔ ♕ ♖ ♗ ♘ ♙ Black: ♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟

Algebraic notation basics

Algebraic notation names files a-h and ranks 1-8. Moves combine piece letter and destination square, for example: Nf3 means knight to f3; e4 means pawn to e4.

Special symbols

Capture: x     (e.g. Bxe5) Check: +       (e.g. Qh5+) Checkmate: #   (e.g. Qh7#) Castling: O-O (king-side), O-O-O (queen-side) Promotion: =Q (e.g. e8=Q) Draw offer: =

PGN examples

A short PGN line: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 — use piece glyphs when you want visual pieces in articles: "White: ♔ ♕ ♖ ♗ ♘ ♙".

Copy-paste table

♔ ♕ ♖ ♗ ♘ ♙  ♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟ x  +  #  O-O  O-O-O  =Q

Notation tips

Use lowercase for files and uppercase for pieces. Disambiguate with file or rank if two pieces of same type can move to same square, for example Nbd2 (knight from b-file to d2).

Resources

For more on chess piece glyphs see Chess Symbols Unicode and our PGN examples in beginner guides. Use the copy-paste chess glyphs above when writing posts or forum messages.