What are the chess piece letters in other languages?

In the order king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, pawn: English K Q R B N P; German K D T L S B; Spanish and Italian R D T A C P; French R D T F C P; Portuguese R D T B C P; Dutch K D T L P, with no pawn letter; Russian Кр Ф Л С К п; Polish K H W G S P; Czech K D V S J P. Pawn moves are normally written without a letter.

How does it know which language I used?

It replays the moves with every letter set and keeps the one that gets furthest without an illegal move. When several fit equally well, as in a game of only pawn moves, it prefers the set whose letters appear in the text. Spanish and Italian use the same letters, so either gives the same English moves.

Why does it stop at a move?

Because that move is not legal in the position reached when it is read with the chosen letters. Often a letter was misread or the move was written down wrong. Check it against the scoresheet, or pick another language by hand.

Can it read a handwritten scoresheet?

It translates typed moves. The ScanChess scoresheet scanner reads handwritten scoresheets written with English piece letters (K, Q, R, B, N) and checks every move; a scoresheet in other letters can be typed in and translated here.

Does it handle descriptive notation such as P-K4?

No. Descriptive notation names squares from each player's side of the board and needs a different reader. This tool reads algebraic notation, whatever the language of its piece letters.

Chess Notation Translator

Free tool · No account needed

Moves written with any language's piece letters, turned into English SAN and a PGN. Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

Is the game on a paper scoresheet? Scan it into PGN instead of typing it.

Scan an image Try the free example

Algebraic notation is the same everywhere except for the piece letters. A German scoresheet writes Sf3 for the knight move, a Spanish or French one Cf3, a Russian one Кf3, and most chess programs only read Nf3. Swapping letters one for one gets it wrong: R is the king in Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese but a rook in English, and К is a knight in Russian while Кр is the king. This page reads each move with one language's letters and replays it on a board, so every move is checked against the position it was played in. The result is standard English SAN and a PGN any chess program opens.

What this tool does

Ten letter sets, detected for you

English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Polish and Czech, plus figurines such as ♘f3. The set that replays the most moves is chosen, or you pick it yourself.

Every move checked

The game is replayed from the starting position, or from a FEN you give. The first move that is not legal is named, so a misread letter or a slip on the scoresheet is easy to find.

Short and long notation

Reads Sf3, Sg1-f3 and g1-f3, captures written with x or a colon, promotions such as e8D or e8=Ф, and castling written with zeros or with the letter O.

Both directions

Turn English SAN into German, Spanish, Russian or any of the other letter sets, for a club bulletin or a scoresheet in your own language.

How to translate chess notation

1
Paste the moves, with or without move numbers. Comments and variations are skipped.
2
Leave the language on automatic, or pick the letters the moves were written with.
3
If the game did not start from the usual position, paste its FEN in the start position field.
4
Copy the English moves or the PGN, download the PGN, or open it in the PGN viewer.

Frequently asked questions

What are the chess piece letters in other languages?: In the order king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, pawn: English K Q R B N P; German K D T L S B; Spanish and Italian R D T A C P; French R D T F C P; Portuguese R D T B C P; Dutch K D T L P, with no pawn letter; Russian Кр Ф Л С К п; Polish K H W G S P; Czech K D V S J P. Pawn moves are normally written without a letter.
How does it know which language I used?: It replays the moves with every letter set and keeps the one that gets furthest without an illegal move. When several fit equally well, as in a game of only pawn moves, it prefers the set whose letters appear in the text. Spanish and Italian use the same letters, so either gives the same English moves.
Why does it stop at a move?: Because that move is not legal in the position reached when it is read with the chosen letters. Often a letter was misread or the move was written down wrong. Check it against the scoresheet, or pick another language by hand.
Can it read a handwritten scoresheet?: It translates typed moves. The ScanChess scoresheet scanner reads handwritten scoresheets written with English piece letters (K, Q, R, B, N) and checks every move; a scoresheet in other letters can be typed in and translated here.
Does it handle descriptive notation such as P-K4?: No. Descriptive notation names squares from each player's side of the board and needs a different reader. This tool reads algebraic notation, whatever the language of its piece letters.

Typing up a scoresheet by hand?

If it is written with English piece letters, ScanChess reads the handwriting into a PGN and checks every move. Free credits on sign-up.

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