-5

What does this algebraic notation expression mean?

exd5

There is no such notation as x. There is only a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and h. I don't know how this algebraic notation works.

Glorfindel
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    Four downvotes and no comments? What is going on here? Stack Exchange questions are generally expected to show evidence of research effort, and this question shows none. So it should be downvoted. But so should many other questions here, for example, [Is “Rdxd2” algebraic chess notation valid?](https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/16958/is-rdxd2-algebraic-chess-notation-valid) (which currently has a score of 7). Why is this question being treated so harshly? – Brian Drake Mar 14 '21 at 09:29
  • If this question is so bad, why you guys don't let me delete it? –  Mar 23 '21 at 14:52
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    It is usually [not possible for an author to voluntarily delete a question with answers](https://chess.stackexchange.com/help/deleted-questions), but there are other ways for questions to be deleted. With a score of -6, this question may be on the way there. – Brian Drake Mar 24 '21 at 09:08
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    I’m voting to close this question because Low-quality Questions. Should be deleted. –  Dec 11 '21 at 00:49

2 Answers2

14

The "x" means "captures". So, exd5 means the e pawn captures the piece on d5, which may be either a pawn or a more valuable piece.

If the piece doing the capturing is not a pawn then the letter for the piece is used, e.g. Nxc3

Here is an example from the Scotch Gambit

[fen ""]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Nxc3
Brian Towers
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2

For those of you (like me) who use this notation (x = capture) all the time: it's good to note that the confusion probably arises from a variant which uses a colon (:) to indicate captures. I've only seen it in old books myself, but Wikipedia lists it:

A colon (:) is sometimes used instead of "x", either in the same place the "x" would go (B:e5) or at the end (Be5:), but this is not the FIDE standard.

Glorfindel
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