Punctuation chess: Encyclopedia II - Punctuation chess - Common symbols

Punctuation chess - Common symbols

Move symbols in increasing effectiveness of the move:

Punctuation chess - ??: Blunder

The double question mark "??" indicates a blunder, that is a move so bad that it cannot be explained by the player not knowing any better. Typical moves which receive double question marks are overlooking that the queen is under attack or overlooking a checkmate. Whether a single or double question mark is used is often dependent on the player's strength. For instance, if a beginner makes a serious strategic error or overlooks a tactical sequence, this might be explained by the beginner's lack of skill, and the mistake will only receive one question mark. If a master were to make the same move, annotators will often attach the double question mark to indicate that the mistake is not at all indicative of the player's strength.

However, a blunder does not necessarily mean that the move utterly destroys the position; if a player overlooks that he can checkmate his opponent in one move, but instead decides to enter a winning endgame, that move may receive a double query, even though the one playing it is still winning.

Punctuation chess - ?: Mistake

Appending a single question mark "?" after a move indicates that the annotator thinks that the move is a poor one that should not be played. However the nature of the mistake may be more strategic in nature, or the refutation of the move receiving a question mark may be difficult to find.

Punctuation chess - ?!: Dubious move

This symbol is similar to the "!?" but usually indicates that the annotator believes the move to be objectively bad, albeit hard to refute. The "?!" is also often used instead of a "?" to indicate that the move is not all bad. A sacrifice leading to a dangerous attack which the opponent should be able to defend against if he plays well may receive a "?!". Alternatively it may denote a move that is truly bad, but contains an attractive trap.

Punctuation chess - !?: Interesting move

The "!?" is one of the more controversial symbols. Different books have slightly varying definitions. Among the definitions are "interesting, but perhaps not the best move", "move deserving attention", "enterprising move" and "risky move". Usually it indicates that the move leads to exciting or wild play and that the move is probably good. It is also often used when a player makes a cunning trap in a lost position. Typical moves receiving a "!?" are speculative sacrifices and dangerous attacking tries which might be strategically deficient.

Andrew Soltis has called "!?" the symbol of the lazy annotator who finds the move interesting but cannot be bothered to work out if it is good or bad.

Punctuation chess - !: Good move

While question marks indicate bad moves, exclamation marks ("!") indicate good moves. However, annotators are usually somewhat stingy with the use of this symbol, as not all good moves deserve an exclamation mark. Usually the move must demonstrate the player's skill. For example, few annotators would comment a game like this: 1.e4! c5! 2.Nf3! d6!. All the moves of this mainline Sicilian Defense are good ones, but the players have not really demonstrated much skill by playing through well known opening theory. Once the players start making good choices when faced with difficult decisions however, some of the moves may receive exclamation marks by annotators. Typical moves receiving exclamation marks are good opening novelties, well timed breakthroughs, sound sacrifices and moves which avoid falling into traps.

Punctuation chess - !!: Brilliant move

The double exclamation mark ("!!") is used to praise a move which the annotator thinks really shows the player's skill. Such moves are usually hard to find. This might be a sound sacrifice of large amounts of material, or moves which at first glance seem very counter-intuitive.

Positional Symbols:

Punctuation chess - ∞: Unclear

It is unclear who (if anyone) has an advantage. This is often used when a position is highly asymmetrical, such as Black having a ruined pawn structure but dangerous active piece play.

Punctuation chess - =: Even position

This symbol indicates that the annotator believes that White and Black have equal chances.

Punctuation chess - +/= =/+: Slight advantage

This symbol indicates that White (Black) has slightly better chances.

Punctuation chess - +/- -/+: Advantage

This symbol indicates that White (Black) has much better chances.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Common symbols", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki