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Numeric Annotation Glyph

Also known as: NAG

A PGN code made of a dollar sign and number that stores a brief judgment about a move or position.

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Explanation

A Numeric Annotation Glyph, usually shortened to NAG, stores a compact chess comment inside . It is written as a dollar sign immediately followed by a number, such as $1 or $14.

The numeric form is independent of language and font. Software can read $1 and display !, or read $14 and display a symbol for a slight White advantage. The PGN specification allows values from 0 through 255, with commonly used codes assigned defined meanings.

Common examples

  • $1: good move, usually displayed as !
  • $2: poor move or mistake, usually displayed as ?
  • $13: unclear position
  • $14: White has a slight advantage
  • $16: White has a moderate advantage
  • $18: White has a decisive advantage

Codes 1 through 9 mainly judge the move just played. Many later codes describe the resulting position, including equality, advantage, initiative, or time pressure. A NAG is therefore neither part of the legal move nor an exact score from a .

The six traditional suffixes !, ?, !!, ??, !?, and ?! may appear directly after a move in import PGN. When software exports normalized PGN, it can convert those suffixes to their corresponding NAGs.

Common confusions

NAG versus displayed symbol

$14 is the stored code; ⩲ is one possible visual rendering of the same judgment.

NAG versus numeric evaluation

A NAG gives a qualitative category. It is not an exact pawn score or a mandatory engine output.

Sources

  1. 1.Portable Game Notation Specification and Implementation Guide, Steven J. Edwards
  2. 2.PGN parsing and writing, python-chess

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