Descriptive notation abbreviated to the first letter of its name: K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop, P for pawn. Knight begins with the same letter as king, so it is abbreviated to either "Kt" (used in older chess literature) or "N". "N" is used in this article. In 1944 "Chess Review" received many letters debating the change from Kt to N . In descriptive notation each square has two names, depending on Black's or White's viewpoint. Each is given a name corresponding with the piece that occupies the first at the start of the game. Thus
Algebraic notation (chess) an ellipsis (...) fills the position of the White move, for example: Descriptive notation was usual in the Middle Ages in Europe. However, a form of algebraic chess notation, that seems to have been borrowed from Muslim chess, appeared in Europe in a 12th-century manuscript, referred to as MS. Paris Fr. 1173 (PP.). The files run from a to h, just as they do in the current standard algebraic notation. The ranks, however, are also designated by letters, with the exception of the 8th rank which is distinct because it has no letter. The ranks are lettered in reverse –