PAN Examples

Learn Portable Action Notation through progressive examples, from basic movements to complex game scenarios.

Understanding PAN Operators

PAN uses intuitive operators to describe different types of actions:

Operator	Symbol	Usage	Meaning
Dash	`-`	`e2-e4`	Move to empty square
Plus	`+`	`d1+f3`	Capture at destination
Tilde	`~`	`e1~g1`	Special move with side effects
Asterisk	`*`	`P*e5`	Drop piece from reserve
Equals	`=`	`e7-e8=Q`	Transform piece
Ellipsis	`...`	`...`	Pass turn

Basic Movements

Simple Move

The most common action in board games is moving a piece to an empty square.

e2-e4

What happens:

The piece at e2 moves to the empty square e4
The active player changes

Real example: Opening pawn move in chess.

Capture

When a piece takes an opponent’s piece, we use the plus operator.

d1+f3

What happens:

The piece at d1 moves to f3
The piece at f3 is captured (goes to reserve)
The active player changes

Real example: Queen captures a knight in chess.

Transformations

Promotion During Movement

Pieces can transform as they move, typically when reaching specific zones.

e7-e8=Q

What happens:

Pawn moves from e7 to e8
Pawn becomes a queen
The active player changes

Real example: Pawn promotion in chess.

In-Place Transformation

Sometimes pieces change without moving.

e4=+P

What happens:

The piece at e4 transforms to an enhanced state
No movement occurs
The active player changes

Real example: Delayed promotion or status change.

Special Movements

Castling

Some moves trigger automatic side effects. The tilde operator signals these special cases.

e1~g1

What happens explicitly:

King moves from e1 to g1
The active player changes

What happens implicitly (by chess rules):

Rook automatically moves from h1 to f1
Both pieces lose castling rights

The ~ tells us this isn’t just a simple move—game rules will trigger additional effects.

En Passant

Another special move where the capture doesn’t happen at the destination.

e5~f6

What happens explicitly:

Pawn moves from e5 to empty square f6
The active player changes

What happens implicitly (by chess rules):

Enemy pawn at f5 is captured

Without the ~, this would look like a move to an empty square. The special operator alerts us to hidden effects.

Drops (Shōgi-style Games)

Basic Drop

In games like shōgi, captured pieces can return to the board.

P*e5

What happens:

A pawn from the player’s reserve is placed on empty square e5
The reserve decreases by one pawn
The active player changes

Contextual Drop

When only one piece type is available, we can omit the piece identifier.

*d4

What happens:

The only available piece in reserve goes to d4
The active player changes

Pass Action

Voluntary Turn Skip

Sometimes the best move is no move.

...

What happens:

No pieces move or change
The active player changes

Real example: Common in Go when no beneficial moves remain.

Complete Game Sequences

Chess Opening (Italian Game)

e2-e4    # White: King's pawn advances
e7-e5    # Black: Mirrors the advance
g1-f3    # White: Knight develops
b8-c6    # Black: Knight defends
f1-c4    # White: Bishop attacks f7
f8-c5    # Black: Bishop creates symmetry

Each action alternates between players.