a language where 'e4' can mean genius or blunder depending on the next forty moves.
means a standardized shorthand for recording chess moves so any game can be replayed, studied, or argued about forever.
from descriptive notation (king's pawn to king's four) ruled english and american chess for a century until algebraic notation, cleaner and grid-based like a spreadsheet, spread from europe and got fide's official blessing in the 1980s.
immortal game 1851 — anderssen vs kieseritzky, still transcribed move by move in algebraic form
pgn file format — portable game notation stores millions of games on lichess and chess.com
fischer's 1972 scoresheets — handwritten notation from the reykjavik world championship, now archived
kasparov vs deep blue — 1997 match notation still analyzed move by move by engines