Answers.Body: <p>Some websites offer "coordinate drills". I'm not sure how effective they are for learning, but you can certainly give them a try. I found it to be surprisingly entertaining to try to beat my personal record number of coordinates per minute (or whatever the time limit is). Here are the two I know of, but maybe there are others (and maybe there are apps, as well):</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://www.chess.com/vision" rel="noreferrer">https://www.chess.com/vision</a></p>
  
  <p><a href="https://lichess.org/training/coordinate" rel="noreferrer">https://lichess.org/training/coordinate</a></p>
  
  <p>Personally I've found that studying openings (and to a certain extent, checkmate patterns) helps learn coordinates because you start associating coordinates with certain moves, which gives each square its own "personality". For example, c4 is not just c4 anymore; it is the square where the bishop goes in the Italian game, or where the pawn goes in the queen's gambit. </p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-05T22:56:37.410Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-10-05T22:56:37.410Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: itub
Answers.Body: <p>Memorize not just squares, but ranks and files. a: Queen's Rook b: Queen's kNight, c: Queen's Bishop, d: Queen, e: King, f: King's Bishop, g: King's kNight, h: King's Rook. 1: White's back rank, 2: White's pawn rank, 3: White one pawn-move, 4: White's two pawn-move. For each square, you should become familiar what role that square in particular play, but also what role its rank and file plays. For instance, since Black usually castles into g8, f6 the square a knight can attack the king, and where a pawn can attack the middle of the three f7, g7, h7 pawns, etc. It's where a bishop can threaten mate when combined with a queen on the g file, etc. The f file is just off the center on the king side. It's where you're likely supporting you e pawn from, and losing control of it means that attack can come into the g file (where you king usually is). Rank 6 is the last rank before Black's pawns.</p>
  <p>Start with the edges of the board: a file, h file, rank 1, rank 8. It should be easy to get a1, a8, h1, and h8 down. Then go for the middle: rank 4, rank 5, d file, e file. Memorize d1, e1, d8, e8, then d4, d5, e4, e5, then move on to a4, a5, h4, h5. Every other square is only one King's move away from one of these 16 squares.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2020-11-16T20:22:03.890Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-11-16T20:22:03.890Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Acccumulation
Answers.Body: <p>This is something that you gain through experience.  One good way to obtain that kind of experience would be to buy a large game collection - for example, a modern algebraic edition of the 1953 Zurich tournament book by Bronstein - and play through them.  Not only will the experience accustom you to finding each square, you'll undoubtedly learn something from playing through so many master games.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-05T22:53:38.713Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-10-05T22:53:38.713Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: foiwofjwej
Answers.Body: <p>I see from your profile that you are familiar with programming concepts. As a programmer myself, familiar with hexadecimal and other number base notations, I have found it easier to convert the alphanumeric chess position to two numbers first before locating the position.</p>
  <p>So when you see an <code>a, b, c, d, e, f, h</code> convert it to a number in your head first <code>1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.</code></p>
  <p>Then you look for square <code>[3, 4]</code> or <code>[7, 1]</code> remembering that the column is first, then the row.</p>
  <p>So all you need to learn is to quickly convert the following:</p>
  <pre><code>a=1
  b=2
  c=3
  d=4
  e=5
  f=6
  g=7
  h=8
  </code></pre>
  <p>So when you see a position like c3, immediately say <code>[3, 3]</code> in your head before looking for it.</p>
  <p>Bear in mind that just like a map of the earth turned upside down where you could still easily point to let's say India, a square like f6 would always be closer to black on the left.</p>
  <p>So thinking about squares like this, f6 is a name just like India - is quicker than trying to count alphabet letters from right to left. But like everyone else said - it takes practice before it becomes natural.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-11-16T10:59:39.063Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2023-01-10T08:56:05.937Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2023-01-10T08:56:05.937Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Herald Smit
Answers.Body: <p>This might disappoint you but the only thing you can do in the beginning when learning coordinates is to count, since you will lack the intuition necessary to identify coordinates immediately. As you gain chess experience the intuition necessary to quickly determine the coordinates of a square will be built up to the point where you know exactly where (for instance) f6 is on the chessboard without having to think about it. </p>
  
  <p>But in the beginning (as with anything else) you will have to spend some mental effort to locate squares on the chessboard by their coordinates. To make the learning process quicker you could try to incorporate identifying the coordinates of squares while playing (for instance by keeping a scoresheet of the games you play) but other than that there isn't really a quick method to just learn this without effort.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-05T20:14:35.793Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-10-05T20:14:35.793Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Scounged
Answers.Body: <p>Playing blindfold chess might also help with coordinates a lot, once we have a visual sense of where the squares should be, and how they are related spatially in the mind, we can get really comfortable using the chess algebraic notations.</p>
  <p>If you just want to learn notation, its a-h horizontally, and 1-8 vertically on the 8x8 board.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-11-17T10:48:23.170Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-11-17T10:48:23.170Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: abunickabhi
Answers.Body: <p>I feel you. I always struggled with the notation, and never bothered with memorization exercises or drills. There are a lot of great answers here.</p>
  <p>But I learned by watching a lot of chess content, like Agadmator, Daniel Naroditsky, Levy Rozman (Gothamchess), Eric Rosen, ChessNetwork, etc. They nearly always state the moves out loud in algebraic notation as they are being played, but also attribute 'character' to certain impressive squares or moves. You may recognize these phrases.</p>
  <ul>
  <li>&quot;Never play f3/f6&quot; (Ben Finegold)</li>
  <li>&quot;I saw Rook a4, I just didn't like it&quot; (Gothamchess)</li>
  <li>&quot;c4 is explosive&quot;</li>
  <li>&quot;Knife (knight) on f5 is worth at least a pawn&quot; (Gary Kasparov?)</li>
  <li>&quot;Always play b4. The person who uses the b4 square the best wins the game&quot; (Agadmator)</li>
  <li>&quot;play h6 or g6 for luft(air) so you don't get back rank checkmated (when you are castled on the kingside)&quot;</li>
  <li>&quot;Dragon bishop on g7 in the Sicilian Dragon&quot;</li>
  <li>&quot;King knight's natural post on f3 or f6&quot; (ChessNetwork)</li>
  <li>&quot;King b1, always a useful prophylaxis when castled queenside to get off the c file&quot; (Agadmator and others)</li>
  <li>&quot;The b2 pawn is poisoned&quot;</li>
  </ul>
  <p>There are also exceptional moves/squares that can stick with you.</p>
  <ul>
  <li>Ba3!! (Botvinnik-Capablanca, AVRO 1938)</li>
  <li>Bxc3! (Wojtaszek-Caruana, Tata Steel 2021) While analyzing this game, Daniel Naroditsky said something along the lines of: &quot;If you play a move like this, you would have gotten your hands chopped off in Russia!&quot;</li>
  </ul>
  <p>If you consume a large amount of chess content, you might find yourself naturally able to associate squares with certain moves or ideas, all without doing a coordinate training drill.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2023-01-20T17:13:18.987Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2023-01-20T17:13:18.987Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: dolphingang
Answers.Body: <p>Chess coordinates aren't that hard. Basically, every square has a coordinate which is like a name. For example a1 or b5. The coordinate consists of a letter and a number.</p>
  <p>Chess.com offers coordinate practice at <a href="https://www.chess.com/vision" rel="nofollow noreferrer">chess.com/vision</a>.</p>
  <p>Lichess.org also offers coordinate practice at <a href="https://lichess.org/training/coordinate" rel="nofollow noreferrer">lichess.org/training/coordinate</a></p>
  <p>But you can also learn coordinates on your own. If you want to see coordinates in play, you can see the coordinates of your and your opponents moves on the left side of the screen when playing a game.</p>
  
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Shanmukha
Body: <p>I am relatively new to chess, and I wonder, what is a fast (and hopefully easy) way to learn chess board coordinates? This is so when I am watching a video where the commentator says, for example, &quot;Knight f6,&quot; I know to look quickly at f6, and I don't waste time looking for coordinates on the edge of the board or count it.</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2023-02-13T02:02:10.120Z
Comments.Text: I understand chess notation and I can follow a chess game using the notation on a pgn file on a virtual board. What I CANNOT do is "see" the chessboard in my mind because I have aphantasia. I can tell you what colour a square is and which piece is on that square (if any) at the start of the game. Does "visualizatin" necessarily mean "seeing" the board like Beth Harmon in Queen's Gambit? Or can it also refer to "understanding" the board and what's happening in a position?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Monique Cameron
Tags: <learning><notation><chessboards>
Title: How can one easily learn chess board coordinates?
ThreadText: # How can one easily learn chess board coordinates?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-05)
  
  I am relatively new to chess, and I wonder, what is a fast (and hopefully easy) way to learn chess board coordinates? This is so when I am watching a video where the commentator says, for example, "Knight f6," I know to look quickly at f6, and I don't waste time looking for coordinates on the edge of the board or count it.
  
  **Tags:** learning, notation, chessboards
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: I understand chess notation and I can follow a chess game using the notation on a pgn file on a virtual board. What I CANNOT do is "see" the chessboard in my mind because I have aphantasia. I can tell you what colour a square is and which piece is on that square (if any) at the start of the game. Does "visualizatin" necessarily mean "seeing" the board like Beth Harmon in Queen's Gambit? Or can it also refer to "understanding" the board and what's happening in a position?  
  
  ---
  
  ## 8 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2018-10-05. Score: 14
  
  Some websites offer "coordinate drills". I'm not sure how effective they are for learning, but you can certainly give them a try. I found it to be surprisingly entertaining to try to beat my personal record number of coordinates per minute (or whatever the time limit is). Here are the two I know of, but maybe there are others (and maybe there are apps, as well):
  
  <https://www.chess.com/vision>
  
  <https://lichess.org/training/coordinate>
  
  Personally I've found that studying openings (and to a certain extent, checkmate patterns) helps learn coordinates because you start associating coordinates with certain moves, which gives each square its own "personality". For example, c4 is not just c4 anymore; it is the square where the bishop goes in the Italian game, or where the pawn goes in the queen's gambit.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2020-11-16. Score: 7
  
  Memorize not just squares, but ranks and files. a: Queen's Rook b: Queen's kNight, c: Queen's Bishop, d: Queen, e: King, f: King's Bishop, g: King's kNight, h: King's Rook. 1: White's back rank, 2: White's pawn rank, 3: White one pawn-move, 4: White's two pawn-move. For each square, you should become familiar what role that square in particular play, but also what role its rank and file plays. For instance, since Black usually castles into g8, f6 the square a knight can attack the king, and where a pawn can attack the middle of the three f7, g7, h7 pawns, etc. It's where a bishop can threaten mate when combined with a queen on the g file, etc. The f file is just off the center on the king side. It's where you're likely supporting you e pawn from, and losing control of it means that attack can come into the g file (where you king usually is). Rank 6 is the last rank before Black's pawns.
  
  Start with the edges of the board: a file, h file, rank 1, rank 8. It should be easy to get a1, a8, h1, and h8 down. Then go for the middle: rank 4, rank 5, d file, e file. Memorize d1, e1, d8, e8, then d4, d5, e4, e5, then move on to a4, a5, h4, h5. Every other square is only one King's move away from one of these 16 squares.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2018-10-05. Score: 5
  
  This is something that you gain through experience. One good way to obtain that kind of experience would be to buy a large game collection - for example, a modern algebraic edition of the 1953 Zurich tournament book by Bronstein - and play through them. Not only will the experience accustom you to finding each square, you'll undoubtedly learn something from playing through so many master games.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2020-11-16. Score: 3
  
  I see from your profile that you are familiar with programming concepts. As a programmer myself, familiar with hexadecimal and other number base notations, I have found it easier to convert the alphanumeric chess position to two numbers first before locating the position.
  
  So when you see an `a, b, c, d, e, f, h` convert it to a number in your head first `1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.`
  
  Then you look for square `[3, 4]` or `[7, 1]` remembering that the column is first, then the row.
  
  So all you need to learn is to quickly convert the following:
  
  ```
  a=1
  b=2
  c=3
  d=4
  e=5
  f=6
  g=7
  h=8
  
  ```
  
  So when you see a position like c3, immediately say `[3, 3]` in your head before looking for it.
  
  Bear in mind that just like a map of the earth turned upside down where you could still easily point to let's say India, a square like f6 would always be closer to black on the left.
  
  So thinking about squares like this, f6 is a name just like India - is quicker than trying to count alphabet letters from right to left. But like everyone else said - it takes practice before it becomes natural.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2018-10-05. Score: 2
  
  This might disappoint you but the only thing you can do in the beginning when learning coordinates is to count, since you will lack the intuition necessary to identify coordinates immediately. As you gain chess experience the intuition necessary to quickly determine the coordinates of a square will be built up to the point where you know exactly where (for instance) f6 is on the chessboard without having to think about it.
  
  But in the beginning (as with anything else) you will have to spend some mental effort to locate squares on the chessboard by their coordinates. To make the learning process quicker you could try to incorporate identifying the coordinates of squares while playing (for instance by keeping a scoresheet of the games you play) but other than that there isn't really a quick method to just learn this without effort.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_7 on 2020-11-17. Score: 1
  
  Playing blindfold chess might also help with coordinates a lot, once we have a visual sense of where the squares should be, and how they are related spatially in the mind, we can get really comfortable using the chess algebraic notations.
  
  If you just want to learn notation, its a-h horizontally, and 1-8 vertically on the 8x8 board.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_8 on 2023-01-20. Score: 1
  
  I feel you. I always struggled with the notation, and never bothered with memorization exercises or drills. There are a lot of great answers here.
  
  But I learned by watching a lot of chess content, like Agadmator, Daniel Naroditsky, Levy Rozman (Gothamchess), Eric Rosen, ChessNetwork, etc. They nearly always state the moves out loud in algebraic notation as they are being played, but also attribute 'character' to certain impressive squares or moves. You may recognize these phrases.
  
  * "Never play f3/f6" (Ben Finegold)
  * "I saw Rook a4, I just didn't like it" (Gothamchess)
  * "c4 is explosive"
  * "Knife (knight) on f5 is worth at least a pawn" (Gary Kasparov?)
  * "Always play b4. The person who uses the b4 square the best wins the game" (Agadmator)
  * "play h6 or g6 for luft(air) so you don't get back rank checkmated (when you are castled on the kingside)"
  * "Dragon bishop on g7 in the Sicilian Dragon"
  * "King knight's natural post on f3 or f6" (ChessNetwork)
  * "King b1, always a useful prophylaxis when castled queenside to get off the c file" (Agadmator and others)
  * "The b2 pawn is poisoned"
  
  There are also exceptional moves/squares that can stick with you.
  
  * Ba3!! (Botvinnik-Capablanca, AVRO 1938)
  * Bxc3! (Wojtaszek-Caruana, Tata Steel 2021) While analyzing this game, Daniel Naroditsky said something along the lines of: "If you play a move like this, you would have gotten your hands chopped off in Russia!"
  
  If you consume a large amount of chess content, you might find yourself naturally able to associate squares with certain moves or ideas, all without doing a coordinate training drill.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_9 on 2023-02-16. Score: 0
  
  Chess coordinates aren't that hard. Basically, every square has a coordinate which is like a name. For example a1 or b5. The coordinate consists of a letter and a number.
  
  Chess.com offers coordinate practice at [chess.com/vision](https://www.chess.com/vision).
  
  Lichess.org also offers coordinate practice at [lichess.org/training/coordinate](https://lichess.org/training/coordinate)
  
  But you can also learn coordinates on your own. If you want to see coordinates in play, you can see the coordinates of your and your opponents moves on the left side of the screen when playing a game.
  
  
  ---
  
  