The Best Move in Algebraic Chess Notation – Password Game Rule 16

The Password Game can be infuriatingly tricky, throwing ever more complex demands at you. The Password Game’s Rule 16 asks you for the best move for an on-screen chess game, in algebraic chess notation. So here’s how to do that.

Here’s How to Work Out Password Game Rule 16, the Best Move in Algebraic Chess Notation

The bad news is that there is no single solution to Rule 16. There’s not even a daily solution, the puzzle will be different each time you play the game. So you’re going to have to do one of two things; actually play chess or cheat.

I’ll assume you’re going the honorable route, in which case you’ll need to know how to play chess. Chess.com has a fantastic, in-depth guide and I’d recommend you either swing by that website, or check out one of the many tutorials on YouTube.

Assuming you’ve learnt chess, or already knew how to play it, the next step is to figure out how to use algebraic chess notation. Here’s a brief guide.

How to Use Algebraic Chess Notation in The Password Game

First of all, take a look at the board below and you’ll see that it has numbers down the side and letters across the bottom. You won’t find that actually written on most chess boards, but that’s how to think of each piece’s location. Eg, the white knight is on square b1.

But it’s not as simple as saying, for example, b1 to a3. Instead, you give a letter corresponding to the piece name and the position you’re moving it to.

• B = Bishop
• K = King
• N = Knight
• Q = Queen
• R = Rook

So to move the white knight, you would use the algebraic chess notation Na3. Pawns aren’t given a letter, so h3 would move the right-most white pawn one square forward.

That’s how you move pieces using algebraic chess notation, but if you’re taking a piece or putting a piece in check you’d add in x for taking a piece and + for putting the King in check. Here are a couple of examples.

Nxd4 – the knight moves to d4, taking whatever piece was on there.

Qb4+ – the queen moves to b4, putting the king in check (the + goes after the move)

You can also use this site to help you practice your algebraic chess notation.

How to Work Out the Next Best Move

To work out the next best move, you need to think ahead, considering how quickly you can put black into check. Because while the board may look even (you typically have a similar number of pieces), you’re typically at an advantage, it’s spotting that advantage that’s tricky. The best way to handle it is to think about where the King can move to and what can block the King from moving. Then, start looking at your pieces, beginning with the queen, which is the most powerful piece you have.

All the chess puzzles The Password Game has thrown at me have had the option to mate in two or three movies. Take the above example. By moving the queen to H7 we instantly put the black king in check, and he can’t take the queen because that would put him in check from the knight. So, the best move is Qh7+.

Or if you feel like cheating, there are plenty of chess solvers out there. There’s an app called Chessify, which can actually scan in the board from your screen, and there’s NextChessMove too. But be warned, as complicated as this puzzle may seem, you’re barely halfway through The Password Game, and there are plenty of other challenges to come.

All Password Game Rules

That’s Rule 16, but what about the other rules in The Password Game? Here’s a full list of every rule.

• Rule 1: Your password must be at least 5 characters.
• Rule 2: Your password must include a number.
• Rule 3: Your password must include an uppercase letter.
• Rule 4: Your password must include a special character.
• Rule 5: The digits in your password must add up to 25.
• Rule 6: Your password must include a month of the year.
• Rule 7: Your password must include a roman numeral.
• Rule 8: Your password must include one of our sponsors:
• Rule 9: The roman numerals in your password should multiply to 35.
• Rule 10: Your password must include this CAPTCHA:
• Rule 11: Your password must include today’s Wordle answer.
• Rule 12: Your password must include a two letter symbol from the periodic table.
• Rule 13: Your password must include the current phase of the moon as an emoji.
• Rule 14: Your password must include the name of this country.
• Rule 15: Your password must include a leap year.
• Rule 16: Your password must include the best move in algebraic chess notation. White to move
• Rule 17: 🥚 ← This is my chicken Paul. He hasn’t hatched yet, please put him in your password and keep him safe.
• Rule 18: The elements in your password must have atomic numbers that add up to 200.
• Rule 19: All the vowels in your password must be bolded.
• Rule 20: Oh no! Your password is on fire. Quick, put it out!
• Rule 21: Your password is not strong enough 🏋️‍♂️
• Rule 22: Your password must contain one of the following affirmations.
• Rule 23: Paul has hatched! Please don’t forget to feed him, he eats three 🐛 every minute.
• Rule 24: Your password must include the URL of a X minutes Y seconds long YouTube video.
• Rule 25: A sacrifice must be made. Pick 2 letters that you will no longer be able to use.
• Rule 26: Your password must contain twice as many italic characters as bold.
• Rule 27: At least 30% of your password must be in the Wingdings font.
• Rule 28: Your password must include this color in hex.
• Rule 29: All roman numerals must be in Times New Roman.
• Rule 30: The font size of every digit must be equal to its square.
• Rule 31: Every instance of the same letter must have a different font size.
• Rule 32: Your password must include the length of your password.
• Rule 33: The length of your password must be a prime number.
• Rule 34: This rule is skipped.
• Rule 35: Your password must include the current time.

And that’s how to figure out The Password Game’s Rule 16, the Best Move in Algebraic Chess Notation.