Reference — TMN v1

Taka Match Notation

TMN is how a game of Taka is written down. PGN-inspired, like chess notation: short enough to write by hand, precise enough for an engine.

The notation is designed so that:

Every game action has exactly one notation string — no ambiguity.
Replaying a TMN score from the standard starting position reproduces the game exactly — no implicit state.
It reads at a glance.

It is the canonical format for every recorded Taka game, human-played and bot alike. TMN assumes you know the game — the complete rules are in the rulebook.

Squares

Columns A through J are written lowercase, a to j. Rows 1 through 14 keep their numbers. Column first, then row: e3, f12, j14. The geometry matches the board in the rulebook.

Pieces

A piece is named by the square it stands on. There are no piece letters — position is identity. If the piece on e3 moves to f5, it is f5 for any later action that turn.

Goalies get two extra names because they have an off-board home:

Gw — the white goalie, wherever it currently stands
Gb — the black goalie
o (the lowercase letter o) — the goalie circle, the goalie's off-board home

Directions

Facing is a single lowercase letter: n (north, toward row 1), s (south, toward row 14), e (east), w (west).

The Operators

Eleven symbols cover every action in the game.

Operator	Meaning	Example	What it does
-	Move (no ball)	e3-f6	The piece on e3 moves to f6
~	Dribble (move with ball)	e3~e4:n	The carrier dribbles e3 to e4, faces north
>	Pass to a teammate	e3>f5:e	Pass to the teammate on f5; f5 faces east
*	Pass to an empty square	e3*g5	The ball lands loose on g5
<-	Receive a loose-ball pass	h6<-g5:n	h6 steps to g5 to collect the loose ball, faces north
x	Tackle	e3xf4	e3 tackles the carrier on f4; the tackler ends on f4
:	Facing suffix	f4:s	On its own, a turn action — f4 just changes facing
@	Goalie activation	Gw@e2	The white goalie jumps from its circle to e2
^	Goalie returns to circle	Gw^	The white goalie returns to its circle
#	Goal scored (suffix)	e10*e14#	The preceding action scored a goal
,	Sub-action separator	e3>f5,f5>g7:n	A multi-step turn

Multi-Step Turns

A turn can contain more than one sub-action, separated by commas:

Consecutive pass (one-two): e3>f5,f5>g7:n — pass to f5, then on to g7, with g7 facing north. The middle piece's facing is set automatically by the consecutive-pass rule and never appears in the notation.
Pass into space, move to receive: e3*g5,h6<-g5:n — pass to empty g5, then the teammate on h6 steps in to receive, facing north.
Tackle plus follow-up: e3xf4,f4:s (tackle, then turn), e3xf4,f4~f5:n (tackle, then dribble), e3xf4,f4>g4:e (tackle, then pass). Exactly one follow-up after a tackle.
Loose-ball pickup: e3-f5,f5~f6:n — move onto a loose ball, then one of dribble, turn, or pass.
Goalie activation onto a ball (rare): Gw@e2,e2:s — activate onto e2, which holds a ball, then turn.

What the Notation Leaves Out

TMN records decisions, not consequences. Anything the rules and the position already determine stays out of the string:

Move, dribble, or pickup — derivable from whether the piece holds a ball and what sits on the destination square.
Whether a pass is a chip — derivable from the board: any piece in the path makes it a chip.
The middle piece's facing in a one-two — set by the rules, not the player.
The tackler's auto-set facing after the swap — set by the rules. If the player then chooses a different facing with a turn sub-action, that is written: ,f4:s.

Recording a Game

A recorded game opens with PGN-style headers in square brackets, then the moves:

[Event "Self-play"]
[Date "2026-05-18"]
[White "Bot-medium"]
[Black "Bot-hard"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e3-f6 e12-d10
2. f3>f5:e d10-d8
3. f5~f6:n e8-e6
4. f6>i9:e ...

Result values: 1-0 (White wins), 0-1 (Black wins), 1/2-1/2 (draw), * (unfinished).

Move numbers count full pairs — 1. White's move, then Black's. Use ... when a game starts mid-turn or to cite a Black move on its own: 1... d10-d8.

Reserved Characters

These characters carry meaning in TMN and are never used as piece or square identifiers:

- ~ > * < x : @ ^ # , .

Notation is the record; the game is the point. The complete rules — the board, facing, passing, tackling, offside — are in the rulebook.

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TMN v1 · finalized 18 May 2026 · matches rulebook v6