Editing Descriptive notation (section)

===Nomenclature===
With the exception of the [[Knight (chess)|knight]], each piece is abbreviated as the first letter of its name: '''K''' for [[King (chess)|king]], '''Q''' for [[Queen (chess)|queen]], '''R''' for [[Rook (chess)|rook]], '''B''' for [[Bishop (chess)|bishop]], and '''P''' for [[Pawn (chess)|pawn]]. As ''knight'' begins with the same letter as ''king'', it is abbreviated as either '''N''' or '''Kt''', the first being the modern convention. In 1944, ''[[Chess Review]]'' received many letters debating the change from Kt to N.<ref>{{harvcol|Lawrence|2009|p=10}}</ref>

[[Image:English Descriptive Chess Notation.svg|thumb|360px|Names of the squares in English descriptive notation]]
[[File:Hoyles Games Modernized 344.png|thumb|1909 diagram showing the square names from the point-of-view of each player. Note the use of "Kt" for knight, and "Sq." (square) for the first rank.]]
Each square has two names, depending on the viewpoint of White or Black. Each {{chessgloss|file}} is given a name corresponding to the piece that occupies the first {{chessgloss|rank}} at the start of the game. Thus, in '''English descriptive notation''' the [[queen (chess)|queen]]'s file is named "Q" and the [[king (chess)|king]]'s file is named "K". Since there are two each of the remaining pieces on the first rank, it is necessary to distinguish between them. The pieces on the queen's side of the [[Chessboard|board]] (to White's left; to Black's right) are named with respect to the queen, i.e. "queen's rook", "queen's knight" and "queen's bishop"; and have the shortened names "QR", "QN" and "QB", respectively. Similarly, the pieces on the king's side (White's right; Black's left) are named with respect to the king, i.e. "king's rook", "king's knight" and "king's bishop"; and have the shortened names "KR", "KN" and "KB". The rank is given a number, ranging from 1 to 8, with rank 1 being closest to the player. In 19th century chess literature the first rank is usually called simply the "[piece]'s square", so "K1" ("King One") is called "King's square" (K. Sq.). Some players omitted both the "1" and the "sq", so "Rook to King 1" was written '''R–K'''.

This method of naming the squares means that each square has one name from White's point of view and another from Black's. For a full diagram of the board using this naming method, see the image above.

When recording a move by White, the naming from White's point of view is used; when recording a move by Black, the naming from Black's point of view is used.

'''Spanish descriptive notation''' uses a similar system, with a few differences:
* The initials to identify the pieces are taken from the equivalent Spanish words: R = ''rey'' (king), D = ''dama'' (queen, {{lit|lady}}), T = ''torre'' (rook), C = ''caballo'' (knight), A = ''[[alfil]]'' (bishop, {{lit|war elephant}}) and P = ''peón'' (pawn). The files are named after the initials of the pieces on the first rank, with those on the queen's side being suffixed by the letter "D", and those on the king's side suffixed by the letter "R". From White's left to right along the first rank this yields: TD, CD, AD, D, R, AR, CR, TR.
* The dash, which in English descriptive notation symbolizes the word "to", is omitted.
* The numerical rank is identified ''before'' the file, e.g. "4R" is equivalent to "K4" (e4 in algebraic notation).

In Spanish descriptive notation the [[Sicilian Defence]] ('''1. P–K4 P–QB4''' in English) would be written '''1. P4R P4AD''' ({{lang|es|peón al cuatro del rey, peón al cuatro del alfil de la dama}}). This is also the method used in French descriptive notation.<ref>{{harvcol|Hooper|Whyld|1996|p=106}}</ref>