Crack open a chess book printed before 1980 and the moves can look like a secret code: 1. P-K4 P-K4 2. N-KB3. That is descriptive notation, the dominant English-language system for over a century. Modern books, websites, and tournament scoresheets use algebraic notation instead, where the same opening reads 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3. If you collect classic chess literature, knowing how to read both is essential.
How descriptive notation works
Descriptive notation names squares relative to each player, not from a fixed grid. Three rules drive the whole system.
Files are named after pieces
Instead of letters a–h, each of the eight files takes the name of the piece that starts on it. The board is split into a kingside (K) and a queenside (Q):
| File (algebraic) | Descriptive name | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| a | Queen Rook | QR |
| b | Queen Knight | QN |
| c | Queen Bishop | QB |
| d | Queen | Q |
| e | King | K |
| f | King Bishop | KB |
| g | King Knight | KN |
| h | King Rook | KR |
Ranks are counted from each player's own side
Each player numbers the ranks 1 through 8 starting from their own back rank. So White's "K4" and Black's "K4" are different squares. White's K4 is the square algebraic notation calls e4; Black's K4 is e5. This relativity is the main source of confusion for modern readers.
Pieces use letters, pawns included
Pieces are abbreviated K, Q, R, B, N, and the pawn is written explicitly as P. A move is written as piece-destination, joined by a hyphen: N-KB3 means "Knight to the King-Bishop-3 square." Captures use an x, as in PxP ("pawn takes pawn"), and disambiguation relies on which file or piece is doing the capturing.
How algebraic notation works
Algebraic notation (SAN, Standard Algebraic Notation) uses a single fixed coordinate grid that never flips. Files are lettered a–h left to right from White's perspective; ranks are numbered 1–8 from White's side upward. Every square has exactly one name: e4 is e4 for both players.
A move is just the piece letter plus the destination square. The pawn letter is dropped entirely, so a pawn push to e4 is simply e4, while a knight move is Nf3. Captures use x (exd5, Nxe5), checks add +, and checkmate adds #.
Algebraic move anatomy:
N x e 5 +
| | | | └─ check
| | └──┴──── destination square
| └────────── capture
└───────────── piece (pawn omitted)
Side-by-side mapping
The two systems describe identical moves. Here is the same short opening — a Giuoco Piano — written both ways:
Descriptive Algebraic (SAN)
1. P-K4 P-K4 1. e4 e5
2. N-KB3 N-QB3 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. B-B4 B-B4 3. Bc4 Bc5
4. P-B3 N-B3 4. c3 Nf6
5. P-Q4 PxP 5. d4 exd4
Reading row by row helps cement the translation:
| Descriptive | Algebraic | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| P-K4 | e4 | Pawn to the king's fourth rank |
| N-KB3 | Nf3 | Knight to king-bishop file, rank 3 |
| N-QB3 | Nc6 | Knight to queen-bishop file (Black's rank 3 = rank 6) |
| B-B4 | Bc4 / Bc5 | Bishop to a bishop-file fourth square |
| PxP | exd4 | Pawn captures pawn |
Notice that B-B4 is ambiguous to a modern eye — there are two bishop files. Context tells you which: in the line above White's B-B4 is the king bishop going to c4, and Black's B-B4 is the king bishop going to c5. Descriptive notation leans on this contextual reading constantly. If you want a fuller breakdown of the modern system, see our guide to chess notation explained.
Why algebraic won
Algebraic notation is unambiguous, language-independent, and compact. Because the coordinate grid never flips, there is no "whose side?" question and no double meaning for squares like K4. FIDE, the international chess federation, adopted algebraic as its official standard, and by the 1980s it had displaced descriptive almost everywhere in English-language publishing.
Descriptive notation survives today mainly in pre-1980s English books — classic works by authors like Reinfeld, Fine, and many older opening manuals. Spanish-language books used a closely related descriptive form well into the same era. If you're studying from that golden-age library, descriptive is a skill worth keeping.
Algebraic notation is also the system that underpins the computer-readable PGN format, which is built entirely on algebraic moves. If you're curious how digital game files are structured, see what is PGN.
Translating an old game
There is no software shortcut for the translation itself: descriptive notation has to be converted by hand, and the table above is the tool for it. Set up a board (a physical one, or the free board editor), play through the descriptive moves one at a time, and write each one down in algebraic as you go. Playing the moves out matters because descriptive relies on context: B-B4 only resolves to Bc4 or Bc5 once you can see which bishop is moving, and PxP only becomes exd4 when the capture is in front of you. Keep track of whose rank numbers you are reading; Black's K4 is e5, not e4.
Once the game is in algebraic, it can go anywhere. Type it into any PGN editor or a Lichess study, or copy it onto a modern scoresheet if you prefer to work on paper.
A scoresheet written in algebraic can then be photographed and read by ScanChess, which returns the game as a legality-checked PGN; it reads standard algebraic notation only, so a page of P-K4 and N-KB3 photographed straight from the book is neither converted nor rule-checked.