Lesson 1 - Notation

Notation is the key to learning checkers. The board has 8 rows, numbering from 1 to 8. It also has 8 columns, from 'a' to 'h'.
Each square name consists of column and row, like a3 or b4. A3 is row 3 on column a, and b4 is row 4 on column b.
Thus the move from a3 to b4 is written as a3-b4. White checkers are located on the lower rows (1-3) and the black checkers on high (6-8 ).