Also known as: -/+, Black moderate advantage

An evaluation symbol showing a clear or moderate Black advantage without declaring the game finished.

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Explanation

The symbol says that Black stands clearly better. In the PGN glyph table it means a moderate Black advantage and can be stored as $17.

It is an overall assessment. Black may be better because of material, activity, king safety, pawn structure, or a combination of factors. The symbol gives no exact number and does not make the position an automatic win.

On the traditional scale, ∓ is stronger than , which indicates only a slight Black edge, and weaker than −+, which indicates a decisive advantage. The corresponding White-favoring sign is .

One text form, two meanings

The ASCII form -/+ is sometimes used instead of ∓. In FIDE results for unplayed games, -/+ means something different: Black wins by White's forfeit. In an annotated variation it is usually an evaluation; in a result table it may record an administrative outcome.

Common confusions

∓ versus −+

∓ means a moderate Black advantage; −+ means a decisive Black advantage.

Evaluation -/+ versus forfeit -/+

In analysis it can represent ∓; in FIDE results for unplayed games it means a Black forfeit win.

Related terms

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