my $piece;
    my $col;
    my $row;
    my $capture;

    #parse Nf4 where N is not always present
    my @parsed = split //, $move;

    if(scalar @parsed == 2) {
	$col = pop @parsed;
	$row = pop @parsed;
    } elsif (scalar @parsed == 3) {
	$piece = pop @parsed;
	$col = pop @parsed;
	$row = pop @parsed;
    } elsif(scalar @parsed == 4) {
	$piece = pop @parsed;
	$capture = pop @parsed; #this is the capture symbol
	$col = pop @parsed;
	$row = pop @parsed;
    } else {
	die "not known algebra notation\n";
    }