10 January 2012

Mystery Notation

I received the image on the left from a correspondent who asked, 'I would like to know what notation is used for this game, played in 1836 at Paris'. After you realize that Black (Noirs) moves first and the ranks are numbered from Black's side of the board, it's not hard to work out the game score (giving White the first move):-

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Ne4 8.Qb3 c6 9.Bd3 O-O 10.Ne2 dxc4 11.Bxc4 b5 12.Bd3 Bf5 13.Qc2 Re8 14.O-O Bg6 15.Nf4 Nd6 16.Nxg6 hxg6 17.Bf4 Na6 18.Rfe1 Qd7 19.a4 Nc7 20.Bxd6 Qxd6 21.Rxe8+ Rxe8 22.axb5 cxb5 23.Rxa7 Re1+ 24.Bf1 Qc6 25.Qd2 Rb1 26.Qd3 Rc1 27.Ra3 Nd5 28.Qf3 f6 29.Qd3 Nf4 30.d5 Qxd5 31.Qxd5+ Nxd5 *

Unfortunately, that still doesn't tell you what notation was used. Any ideas?

2 comments:

Sarah Beth said...

That notation is identical to the system used by Lionel Kieseritsky in la RĂ©gence (which he founded in 1849).
You can peruse through a copy at Google Books - http://books.google.com/books?id=UBRBAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=la+R%C3%A9gence&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-VslT9SQHs2ctweoqrmkCw&ved=0CEwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=la%20R%C3%A9gence&f=false

Mark Weeks said...

Sarah Beth neglected to mention her own post on this subject...

Unusual Notation
http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/unusual-notation

...where there is more detailed info on the notation used. Thanks, Sarah Beth. Mystery solved! - Mark