A finished chess scoresheet is a grid of numbered rows filled with entries like 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6, and that grid is a complete record of the game. Every move both players made is captured in a compact shorthand. Once you understand the layout and the handful of symbols involved, a scoresheet reads almost like a transcript of the conversation that two players had over the board.
Below, the layout comes first, then the piece letters and symbols, then the result codes at the bottom of the sheet.
What a Scoresheet Is For
A scoresheet is the official paper (or digital) record of a game. In rated tournaments, both players are required to write down every move as it happens. The completed sheet lets you replay the game later, settle disputes about what actually occurred, claim draws by repetition, and study your own play afterward. If you want a deeper look at the rules arbiters enforce around these forms, see our guide to FIDE scoresheet rules.
The notation written on a scoresheet is standard algebraic notation, or SAN. If the letters and numbers are new to you, our companion article on chess notation explained covers the alphabet from scratch.
The Layout: Columns and Move Numbers
A scoresheet is a numbered table. Each numbered row represents one full move, which in chess means one turn for each side. There are typically three columns per row:
- A move number (1, 2, 3, and so on).
- A White column, holding the move White played.
- A Black column, holding Black's reply.
Because White always moves first, you read each row left to right: the move number, then White's move, then Black's move. This pairing of one White move and one Black move is called a move pair. Move 1 is the first pair, move 2 is the second pair, and so on. Most scoresheets have two columns of numbered rows side by side so a long game fits on a single page; you finish the left block of moves, then continue at the top of the right block.
Reading a Move Pair
Take the row 1. e4 e5. The 1. is the move number. The e4 in the White column means White moved a pawn to the e4 square. The e5 in the Black column means Black answered with a pawn to e5. That single line records two physical moves on the board.
A Worked Example
Here is how the first four move pairs of an Italian Game look on a scoresheet:
White Black
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Bc5
4. c3 Nf6
Reading this aloud: White opens with the king's pawn to e4, Black mirrors with e5. White develops the knight to f3 attacking the e5 pawn, Black defends it with the knight to c6. White's bishop comes to c4, eyeing the f7 square, and Black's bishop comes to c5. White plays the pawn to c3 to prepare a center push, and Black develops the knight to f6. Four rows, eight moves, a recognizable position.
Decoding the Symbols
The first hurdle for beginners is the abbreviations. Pieces are written with an uppercase letter, and pawns have no letter at all (you just write the destination square). The piece letters are:
- K = King
- Q = Queen
- R = Rook
- B = Bishop
- N = Knight (N, because K is taken)
On top of the piece letters, a small set of symbols carry extra meaning:
- x means a capture, as in
Nxe5(knight captures the piece on e5). - + means check, as in
Qh5+. - # means checkmate, the end of the game, as in
Qxf7#. - O-O is kingside castling (short castling, two letter-O's joined by hyphens).
- O-O-O is queenside castling (long castling, three O's).
- = marks a pawn promotion, as in
e8=Q(pawn reaches e8 and becomes a queen). - e.p. is sometimes added after an en passant capture (
exd6 e.p.). It is optional and not part of strict SAN; the capture is written like any other pawn capture.
You may also see ! and ? annotations (! a good move, ? a mistake, ?! a dubious move), but those are commentary added later, not part of the official record during play.
Disambiguation
Sometimes two identical pieces could reach the same square. The notation adds the starting file or rank to make it clear. For example, if both rooks could move to d1, Rad1 means the rook on the a-file moves there, distinguishing it from the other rook.
How the Result Is Recorded
The bottom of the scoresheet shows the final result with three standard codes:
- 1-0 means White won.
- 0-1 means Black won.
- ½-½ means the game was a draw.
These are scores, not move counts: the winner gets 1 point, the loser 0, and each player gets half a point in a draw. You will usually also find spaces for both players' names, the date, the event, the board number, and signatures confirming the result.
If you are about to record a game of your own rather than read one, how to fill out a chess scoresheet covers the header, the columns, and the habits that keep a sheet legible.
Getting the Game Off the Paper
Once you can read a scoresheet, the next step is usually to get the game into a form you can replay or analyze. The standard digital format is PGN, which we explain in what is PGN, and convert handwritten scoresheet to PGN compares typing the moves in with scanning them.
Typing forty move pairs by hand is the slow part of that. A photo of the sheet uploaded to ScanChess comes back as algebraic notation with every move checked against the rules, so what you have just learned to read is also what the scanner shows you to review.