pawn designated as 1). The second integer would be the file on which it was on. This would also solve the problem of two set of tandem pawns on two different files nicely. Thus the notation to move the middle pawn (3 tandem pawns in a file) on the 5th file to the 4th file would be: 25=4 In older books written in Chinese the system is the same, except that: the names of the pieces are written in Chinese; the name for the cannon on both sides is 炮; the name for the horse on both sides is 馬; forward motion is indicated with 進 (pronounced jìn); backward motion is indicated with 退 (tuì); sideways motion is indicated with 平 (píng); and numbers are written in Chinese either for both players or for just Black. Thus, the most common opening in the game might be written as: 炮二平五 馬8進7 System 3 This system is unofficial and principally used by Western players. It is similar to algebraic notation for Western chess. Letters are used for files and numbers for ranks. File "a" is on Red's left and rank "1" is nearest to Red. A point's designation does not depend on which player moves; for both sides "a1" is the lowest left point from Red's side. [single-letter piece abbreviation][former position][capture indication][new position][check indication][analysis] Pieces are abbreviated as in notation system 2, except that no letter is used for the soldier. Former position is only indicated if necessary to distinguish between two identical pieces that could have made the move. If they share the same file, indicate which rank moves; if they share the same rank, indicate which file moves. If they share neither rank nor file, then the file is indicated. Capture is indicated by "x". No symbol is used to indicate a non-capturing move. Check is indicated by "+", double check by "++", triple check by "+++", and quadruple check by "++++". Checkmate is indicated by "#". For analysis purposes, bad moves are indicated by "?" and good moves by "!". These can be combined if the analysis is uncertain ("!?" might be either but is probably good; "?!" is probably bad) or repeated for emphasis ("??" is a disaster). Thus, the most common opening in the game would be written as: Che3 Hg8 An example of a brief game ("the early checkmate") is: Cbe3 Che8 Ch6? Cb4? Cxe7+? Cexe4??