In tournament play, after someone moves they write down something on a notebook. I assume it’s the last move. If it is, why? What does a list of last moves do for you?
I guess they are just keeping track of the plays. This lets people who are not there review the game and learn from the players’ strategies.
You occasionally see games listed in the newspaper.
It’s like keeping a scorecard in baseball (and I’m sure there are similar things in other sports). By marking the moves, you can keep track of the progress of the game and use that to analyze it afterwards. Others can recreate the game and see how it occurred.
“What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet.
It’s a bit more than a scorecard in baseball. It’s a complete record of the game. Furthermore, it is required in tournament chess to record your game. If there is a dispute and you can’t produce a game score to show the position, then you’ll pretty much lose any request from the tournament director.
Also, when playing at tournament levels, it is essential to review your game to improve, hence recording it is just as important to your game as playing.
More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Chess Notation
– Sylence
“Excuse me, are you reading Torah and eating crayons?”