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We have notation codified for a good move (!), for a bad move (?), for a decisive outcome (1-0 or 0-1), for a draw (.5-.5 or 1/2-1/2), for a draw offer (=), and for checkmate (++ or ## or #).
But we do not have any notation for stalemate (as a noteworthy distinctive subset of draw).
Maybe #= or =# would have been accepted in today’s era, if it had been in use before all of us had yet been born.
Also, it would be very good if there was a codified notation for - Lost on Time.
Maybe #@.
(However, I would hesitate to introduce entirely new characters like @; but at least @ is type-able on a plain English keyboard, and likely on non-English keyboards due to internet email addressing.)
Or am I mistaken: Are there any notations specifically for stalemate or lost on time?
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Although I can see the benefit of that, I think adding anything new to notation at this time and place would be difficult. Notation is fairly entrenched, and most likely none of the online chess servers would add it, since it would mean reprogramming entire databases to account for an extra symbol in the notation.
Plus it would ignore the millions of games already on chess databases, so its historical value would only apply to those games in which some other person analyzed the game and mentioned that so-and-so lost on time. Even at that, its most likely the only games that would be retroactively notated they lost on time is games from the likes of World Chess Champion level players, and historically significant matches/tournaments where the majority of the games were actually analyzed.
I don’t think there is a need for a stalemate notation, as stalemate is implied in the final position of the board.
In the pgn standard, there is a control tag for indicating game ended by time forfeit.
I’ve never seen that tag used in PGN headers. Though I have seen games (ICC? FICS? Something else?) which ends the game with a comment “[White/Black] forfeits on time.” Since that ability to comment exists, and one could simply note it on a paper sheet, why add complexity by requiring a standard?
After a lengthy thorough test of Fritz_11, I conclude that Fritz_11 does not process the [Termination “?”] tag, unfortunately.
The .CBH format probably has no field for storing this info, unfortunately.
Why? Because standards tend to make things more programmable, more able to synergize with modern digital technologies.
Free form comments are not programmable.
It would be sorta nice if a competent version of FIDE would establish standard fonts for printed SAN, and for chessboard position diagrams, so that chess OCR software could work better for anyone who cared.
The FIDE chess font would be optional but mildly suggested. (OCR = Optical Character Recognition)
I have used chess OCR software on diagrams, but they are not sufficiently accurate, perhaps due to the endless small variations among the variety of chess fonts used by different publishers.
My hand computer (or “smartphone”) already has optical scanner software. I would like to point its scanner at a printed chess diagram, then tell its chess engine to calculate. It is 99% certain this will be routinely possible well before 2060, but I cannot wait that long.
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Observe, if you will, that the notation for the final result sometimes appears twice on the scoresheet.
With checkmate, for example, ## is appended to the final move, then 1-0 or 0-1 appears in the space formerly reserved for the following move.
Likewise, with stalemate, == could be appended, then 1/2-1/2 written in the following space.
Also, how about @@ for a time forfeit? It even looks like a double clock face. If the time forfeit occurred while the player was attempting a move, the @@ could be appended to the move, followed by 1-0 or 0-1 in the next space. Or if the time forfeit occurred while the player was sitting thinking, @@ could appear by itself, followed by 1-0 or 0-1 in the next space.
This would work with a draw by time forfeit, as well. If, for example, a player’s time expires but his opponent has only a king remaining, @@ would be followed by 1/2-1/2 in the next space.
When my opponent loses on time, I have always placed a T by his last move. I also put the time left on each clock a couple of rows under the last move played.
