Note to Kasparov Players: For those of you who are unfamiliar with algebraic notation, we've made it easy for you to vote for your move against Kasparov. On the Today's Move page when it is the World Team's turn to vote, click on the piece you want to move, and the name of that square will appear in the "From:" field indicating the location of the piece you are moving. When you click on the square where you want to move your piece, the name of that square appears in the "To:" field. You will only see two number-letter combinations, but you will NOT see the name of the piece you are moving. For example, if you are playing Black and you move your Knight (N in algebraic notation) from b4 to d5, you will see "b4" in the "From:" field and "d5" in the "To:" field, but you will not see N. Thus, the voting mechanism does not show the piece that is being moved. However, the Game History page will show the complete move in proper algebraic notation.

NOTE: Chess diagrams normally show White at the bottom and Black at the top. However, the board in Kasparov vs. the World has been rotated, with Black at the bottom and White on top. The reason is that YOU are playing Black so we want you to see the board just as you would if you were sitting across from Kasparov in the same room.

The eight columns (called “files”) are indicated by the small letters a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and h. The eight rows (called “ranks”) are numbered 1 through 8. On your board, Rank No. 8 is closest to you (Black pieces), with Rank No. 1 at the top of your board (White pieces).

The letter-number scheme gives each square a permanent "name" by joining a file letter and a rank number. Each of the pieces (other than pawns) are represented by an uppercase letter. If White or Black moves a Bishop to c6, the move is written Bc6. If White or Black moves a Knight (written N to avoid confusion with the King) to c6, the move is Nc6. Rook to c6 is Rc6, Queen to c6 is Qc6, etc. Pawn moves have no letter -- pawn to c6 is simply written c6, regardless of the color.

Captures are indicated by an x. If a Knight captures a piece on c6, the move is written Nxc6. When two identical pieces of the same color can each move to the same square, the written notation needs to indicate the piece's origin square. As examples, Na5 and Ne5 moving to c6 becomes Nac6 or Nec6. Ne5 and Ne7 moving to c6 becomes N5c6 or N7c6. Check is indicated by a plus (+) sign. So, moving the Bishop to the d7 square and placing the opponent's King in check would be written as Bd7+.

When you promote a pawn to a piece, write the name of the square on which the pawn is promoted, followed by an = sign. For example, e8=Q means your pawn was promoted to Queen (or “your pawn was Queened”) on the e8 square.

Castling is a joint move by the King and either Rook which counts as a single move by the King. It is done either Kingside or Queenside as follows: the King moves two squares toward either Rook on its own rank, after which that Rook moves over the King to the square which the King has just crossed. Castling is allowed only if the King has not yet moved and the Rook has not moved. Castling is temporarily not allowed if the King's original square, his destination square or the square which the King crosses is under attack. However, the Rook may be under attack or may cross a square which is under attack. All squares between the King and the Rook must be empty. Castling Kingside is denoted O-O and castling Queenside is denoted O-O-O (with capital letter O).

Sometimes in the Analysis you will see the marks ?, ??, !, !!, !? and ?! after a move. In algebraic notation, "!" means "Good move" - "!!" means "Excellent move" - "!?" means "Possibly good move" - "?" means "Questionable move" - "??" means "Poor move" and "?!" means "Possibly good but dubious move."

A complete record of a move in algebraic notation includes: the move number (1, 2, 3...etc.) followed by a period, then White's move, then a blank space, then Black's move. For example, in 1.e4 e5 White moved a pawn to e4 and Black moved a pawn to e5. You’ll see this notation used throughout the event. It’s not difficult to use, and it’s the best way to describe the action while avoiding confusion. Practice makes perfect, so give it a try.