ICCF numeric notation

<h2 id="details">Details</h2>

<p>In numeric notation, each square is designated with a two-digit number via a <a href="/facts/Coordinate_system/Mtd0q4SP">coordinate system</a>. The first digit describes the file and the second digit the rank. Files are numbered 1 to 8 from White's left to White's right, and ranks are numbered 1 to 8 from White's near side to White's far side. A move is defined by pairing two square designations together, one for the starting square and one for the ending square. For example, the move that would be written <i>1.e4</i> in algebraic notation would be written <i>1. 5254</i> in numeric notation: the <a href="/facts/Pawn_(chess)/Xk3E1UIN">pawn</a> starts from square 52 (file 5, rank 2) and moves to square 54 (file 5, rank 4). Numeric notation does not explicitly mark the type of moving piece, <a href="/facts/Glossary_of_chess/bh0g4wCP">captures</a>, or <a href="/facts/Check_(chess)/WgtqMuwc">checks</a>; every move is written as four digits unless resulting in promotion.
</p><p>For promotion, a fifth digit is added to the move's notation: 1 for <a href="/facts/Queen_(chess)/sHWc1RMX">queen</a>, 2 for <a href="/facts/Rook_(chess)/Douvk8Nu">rook</a>, 3 for <a href="/facts/Bishop_(chess)/d1jHm7Ec">bishop</a>, and 4 for <a href="/facts/Knight_(chess)/zhuevLvX">knight</a>. For instance, a pawn on f7 moving to f8 and promoting to a rook would be written as <i>67682</i>. A variant four-digit notation where the ending rank is omitted (because it is always 8 for White and 1 for Black) also exists (e.g. <i>6762</i>); however, this is considered confusing and contradicts the standard.
</p><p><a href="/facts/Castling/S20sKRjc">Castling</a> is written using the <a href="/facts/King_(chess)/SK8neGEX">king</a>'s start position and end position. Castling <a href="/facts/Glossary_of_chess/bh0g4wCP">kingside</a> is written as <i>5171</i> for White and <i>5878</i> for Black, and castling <a href="/facts/Glossary_of_chess/bh0g4wCP">queenside</a> is written as <i>5131</i> for White and <i>5838</i> for Black. The rook's start and end positions are implied.
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<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>German professor J. W. D. Wildt of Göttingen devised numeric notation circa 1803. Johann Koch used the system 25 years later; the system is sometimes named after him. Ivan Savenkov supported its use in 1877, and it bears his name in Russia.
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Descriptive_notation/BfrDgdIX">Descriptive notation</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Forsyth%E2%80%93Edwards_Notation/tF7fGcSg">Forsyth–Edwards Notation</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Portable_Game_Notation/kGwYcadB">Portable Game Notation</a></li></ul>

<ul><li><a href="/facts/David_Vincent_Hooper/t9VTSeDs">Hooper, David</a>; <a href="/facts/Kenneth_Whyld/jwmoGpzo">Whyld, Kenneth</a> (1996) [First pub. 1992]. <i><a href="/facts/The_Oxford_Companion_to_Chess/X4aMlkw7">The Oxford Companion to Chess</a></i> (2nd ed.). <a href="/facts/Oxford_University_Press/CYyTzzWG">Oxford University Press</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-19-280049-3.</li>
<li>Just, Tim; Burg, Daniel B. (2003), <i>U.S. Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess</i> (fifth ed.), McKay, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-8129-3559-4</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Anne_Sunnucks/t10lhsrw">Sunnucks, Anne</a> (1970), <i>The Encyclopaedia of Chess</i>, St. Martins Press, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-7091-4697-1</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://iccfwebfiles.blob.core.windows.net/rules/2019/THE%20ICCF%20LAWS%20OF%20CORRESPONDENCE%20CHESS%2001.01.2019.pdf">ICCF Laws of Correspondence Chess</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>(Just & Burg 2003:221–22) - Just, Tim; Burg, Daniel B. (2003), U.S. Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess (fifth ed.), McKay, ISBN 0-8129-3559-4 <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

ICCF numeric notation open-in-new

ICCF numeric notation