Every club player has a scoresheet that stops making sense at move 34. Most mistakes fall into a few kinds, and each has a simple habit that prevents it.
Missing a move
The most common mistake: one player's move is never written, so every move after it sits in the wrong column. You notice twenty moves later, when White appears to have played Kg8.
The habit: write your opponent's move before you think about your reply, and your own move straight after you play it. Look at the clock and the sheet together each time you press.
Move numbers out of step
Writing White and Black on the same line keeps the numbers right. Starting a new line for Black's move, or skipping a line after a long think, puts every later move one number out. Printed sheets with a numbered line for each move pair stop this; so does glancing at the number before you write.
Letters that are hard to read
Pieces are capital letters and files are small ones, and the difference matters. These are the pairs that cause most arguments afterwards:
| Written | Can be read as | Write it |
|---|---|---|
| Bxc4 or bxc4 | A bishop or a b-pawn taking on c4 | A tall, clear capital B for the bishop |
| Nd7 or Nd1 | A hasty 7 looks like a 1 | Cross your sevens, or close the top |
| Rf6 or Rf8 | A loose 6 closes into an 8 | Leave the 6 open at the top |
| Qe5 or Qc5 | An open e looks like a c | Close the loop of the e |
Two pieces that can reach the same square
If two knights can both go to d2, Nd2 is not enough. Add the file the knight came from, Nbd2 or Nfd2; if they stand on the same file, add the rank instead, such as R1e2.
Writing ahead
Some players write their move down before playing it, to check it on paper first. Under the FIDE Laws (article 8.1) that is not allowed: you may write your move after you make it, or reply to your opponent before writing their move, but you must not write a move in advance, except when you are claiming a draw by repetition or by the fifty-move rule. Treat the sheet as a record, not a notepad.
Falling behind in time trouble
In a time scramble you may stop writing, but only in the situation the Laws allow. Under article 8.4, if you have less than five minutes left and there is no increment of 30 seconds or more a move, you need not keep recording for the rest of that period. With an increment of 30 seconds or more, you must keep writing every move.
Once a flag has fallen, a player who stopped recording must bring the sheet completely up to date before moving a piece again, using the opponent's sheet if needed. Many players draw a line where they stopped, so the gap is easy to find afterwards.
Fixing the sheet after the game
- Find the last move you are sure of.Set the position up to there on a board.
- Play through your opponent's sheet from that point.Most players are happy to help; their sheet may have the move you missed.
- Mark what you cannot recover as a gap.A clearly marked gap is better than a guess, and it can be filled in later.
- Check the result is written and both sheets are signed.At most events the result and both signatures make the sheet complete.
Plyfolio works the same way: if you miss a move, leave a gap and carry on recording. The gap is kept and marked, and Plyfolio never suggests what was played.
General information, written 4 November 2026, not legal advice or an arbiter's ruling. The FIDE Laws of Chess quoted here are the version in force from 1 January 2023; laws and event rules change, so check the current FIDE Handbook and your event's own rules before you rely on this.