Numeric Annotation Glyphs


Numeric Annotation Glyphs or NAGs are used to annotate chess games when using a computer, typically providing an assessment of a chess move or a chess position. NAGs exist to indicate a simple annotation in a language independent manner.
NAGs were first formally documented in 1994 by Steven J. Edwards in his Portable Game Notation Specification and Implementation Guide. Within the PGN specification, 256 NAGs are proposed of which the first 140 are defined; the remainder were reserved for future definition.

Introduction

A Numeric Annotation Glyph is composed of a dollar sign character immediately followed by one or more digit characters. Each NAG then has a specific meaning and often a standard typographical representation. The meanings first defined stemmed from the use of specific typographic symbols when annotators were commenting upon chess games; most especially in Chess Informant publications. The objective was to devise an alternative representation of these symbols which could be incorporated in the simple computer file format proposed as the PGN standard. This mechanism allowed often sophisticated typography to be expressed using the simple ASCII character set.
Since its inception there has been no attempt to further formalise or standardise the meaning of the undefined 116 NAGs although PGN editors, such as ChessPad, have variously used these higher glyphs.
NAG rangeClassification
$0provided for the convenience of software designers as a placeholder value;
should not appear in PGN files and has no typographic representation
$1-$9Move assessments
$10-$135Positional Assessments
$136-$139Time Pressure Commentaries
$140+not defined

Standard NAGs

NAGMeaningSymbolUnicodeHTMLName
$0null annotation----
$1good move see also Nunn Convention for alternate meanings!!single exclamation mark
$2poor move or mistake ??single question mark
$3very good or brilliant move ‼8252 / 0x203Cdouble exclamation mark
$4very poor move or blunder ⁇8263 / 0x2047double question mark
$5speculative or interesting move ⁉8265 / 0x2049exclamation question mark
$6questionable or dubious move ⁈8264 / 0x2048question mark and exclamation mark
$7forced move or only move□9632 / 0x25A1white square
$8singular move ---
$9worst move---
$10drawish position or even==equal sign
$11equal chances, quiet position---
$12equal chances, active position---
$13unclear position∞8734 / 0x221E∞infinity
$14White has a slight advantage⩲10866 / 0x2A72plus sign above equals sign
$15Black has a slight advantage⩱10865 / 0x2A71equals sign above plus sign
$16White has a moderate advantage±0177±plus-minus sign
$17Black has a moderate advantage∓8723 / 0x2213∓minus-or-plus sign
$18White has a decisive advantage+ −0177+ −
$19Black has a decisive advantage− +− +
$20White has a crushing advantage ---
$21Black has a crushing advantage ---
$22White is in zugzwang⨀10752 / 0x2A00N-ary circled dot operator
$23Black is in zugzwang⨀10752 / 0x2A00N-ary circled dot operator
$24White has a slight space advantage---
$25Black has a slight space advantage---
$26White has a moderate space advantage---
$27Black has a moderate space advantage---
$28White has a decisive space advantage---
$29Black has a decisive space advantage---
$30White has a slight time advantage---
$31Black has a slight time advantage---
$32White has a moderate time advantage⟳10227 / 0x27F3clockwise gapped circle arrow
$33Black has a moderate time advantage⟳10227 / 0x27F3clockwise gapped circle arrow
$34White has a decisive time advantage---
$35Black has a decisive time advantage---
$36White has the initiative→8594 / 0x2192→rightwards arrow
$37Black has the initiative→8594 / 0x2192→rightwards arrow
$38White has a lasting initiative---
$39Black has a lasting initiative---
$40White has the attack↑8593 / 0x2191↑upwards arrow
$41Black has the attack↑8593 / 0x2191↑upwards arrow
$42White has insufficient compensation for material deficit---
$43Black has insufficient compensation for material deficit---
$44White has sufficient compensation for material deficit---
$45Black has sufficient compensation for material deficit---
$46White has more than adequate compensation for material deficit---
$47Black has more than adequate compensation for material deficit---
$48White has a slight center control advantage---
$49Black has a slight center control advantage---
$50White has a moderate center control advantage---
$51Black has a moderate center control advantage---
$52White has a decisive center control advantage---
$53Black has a decisive center control advantage---
$54White has a slight kingside control advantage---
$55Black has a slight kingside control advantage---
$56White has a moderate kingside control advantage---
$57Black has a moderate kingside control advantage---
$58White has a decisive kingside control advantage---
$59Black has a decisive kingside control advantage---
$60White has a slight queenside control advantage---
$61Black has a slight queenside control advantage---
$62White has a moderate queenside control advantage---
$63Black has a moderate queenside control advantage---
$64White has a decisive queenside control advantage---
$65Black has a decisive queenside control advantage---
$66White has a vulnerable first rank---
$67Black has a vulnerable first rank---
$68White has a well protected first rank---
$69Black has a well protected first rank---
$70White has a poorly protected king---
$71Black has a poorly protected king---
$72White has a well protected king---
$73Black has a well protected king---
$74White has a poorly placed king---
$75Black has a poorly placed king---
$76White has a well placed king---
$77Black has a well placed king---
$78White has a very weak pawn structure---
$79Black has a very weak pawn structure---
$80White has a moderately weak pawn structure---
$81Black has a moderately weak pawn structure---
$82White has a moderately strong pawn structure---
$83Black has a moderately strong pawn structure---
$84White has a very strong pawn structure---
$85Black has a very strong pawn structure---
$86White has poor knight placement---
$87Black has poor knight placement---
$88White has good knight placement---
$89Black has good knight placement---
$90White has poor bishop placement---
$91Black has poor bishop placement---
$92White has good bishop placement---
$93Black has good bishop placement---
$94White has poor rook placement---
$95Black has poor rook placement---
$96White has good rook placement---
$97Black has good rook placement---
$98White has poor queen placement---
$99Black has poor queen placement---
$100White has good queen placement---
$101Black has good queen placement---
$102White has poor piece coordination---
$103Black has poor piece coordination---
$104White has good piece coordination---
$105Black has good piece coordination---
$106White has played the opening very poorly---
$107Black has played the opening very poorly---
$108White has played the opening poorly---
$109Black has played the opening poorly---
$110White has played the opening well---
$111Black has played the opening well---
$112White has played the opening very well---
$113Black has played the opening very well---
$114White has played the middlegame very poorly---
$115Black has played the middlegame very poorly---
$116White has played the middlegame poorly---
$117Black has played the middlegame poorly---
$118White has played the middlegame well---
$119Black has played the middlegame well---
$120White has played the middlegame very well---
$121Black has played the middlegame very well---
$122White has played the ending very poorly---
$123Black has played the ending very poorly---
$124White has played the ending poorly---
$125Black has played the ending poorly---
$126White has played the ending well---
$127Black has played the ending well---
$128White has played the ending very well---
$129Black has played the ending very well---
$130White has slight counterplay---
$131Black has slight counterplay---
$132White has moderate counterplay⇆8646 / 0x21C6leftwards arrow over rightwards arrow
$133Black has moderate counterplay⇆8646 / 0x21C6leftwards arrow over rightwards arrow
$134White has decisive counterplay---
$135Black has decisive counterplay---
$136White has moderate time control pressure---
$137Black has moderate time control pressure---
$138White has severe time control pressure---
$139Black has severe time control pressure---

Non-standard NAGs