ChessPigeonHow to Open and Study a PGN File
To review a PGN file in ChessPigeon, open Import game, paste the PGN text or drop your file, and run Analyze game. Stockfish reviews the moves in your browser. This guide explains the format, the import steps and how to save a backup.
What a PGN file is
PGN stands for Portable Game Notation. A PGN file is plain text: you can open it in any text editor. It records who played, where and when, every move, and optionally comments and alternative lines. One file can hold a single game or a whole collection.
Because it is plain text, a PGN is also the most dependable backup for your games. It doesn't depend on any one website or app still existing.
Reading a PGN line by line
Here is a shortened version of Morphy's Opera Game with a comment and a variation added. Copy it if you want to follow along in ChessPigeon.
[Event "A night at the opera"]
[Site "Paris, France"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[White "Paul Morphy"]
[Black "Duke of Brunswick & Count Isouard"]
[Result "1-0"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4
{Black pins the knight.}
4. dxe5 Bxf3 (4... dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8) 5. Qxf3 dxe5 1-0| Part | Example | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Tag pairs | [White "Paul Morphy"] | Header information in square brackets: a tag name and a quoted value. Event, Site, Date, White, Black and Result are the most common. |
| Unknown values | [Date "1858.??.??"] | Question marks stand for parts that aren't known, here the month and day. |
| Movetext | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 | The moves after a blank line. Each number starts a new move: White's move, then Black's. |
| Comments | {Black pins the knight.} | Text in curly braces is a comment attached to the move before it. |
| Variations | (4... dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8) | Moves in parentheses are an alternative to the move just before them, here to 4...Bxf3. |
| Result | 1-0 | 1-0 means White won, 0-1 Black won, 1/2-1/2 a draw and * an unfinished game. It also appears in the Result tag. |
Note that this excerpt stops after move 5 but keeps the real result. PGN files often contain fragments like this for study.
Move notation in brief
PGN uses Standard Algebraic Notation (SAN). Squares are named by file (a–h) and rank (1–8) from White's side.
| Symbol | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| K Q R B N | King, queen, rook, bishop, knight. Pawn moves have no letter. | Nf3 |
| x | A capture | dxe5 |
| + | Check | Bxb5+ |
| # | Checkmate | Rd8# |
| O-O / O-O-O | Castling on the king's side / queen's side | O-O-O |
| =Q | Pawn promotion, here to a queen | e8=Q |
Where to get a PGN
- Your own games. Most chess sites let you download a finished game or your whole archive as PGN, usually from the game's share or download menu.
- Chess.com, directly. In ChessPigeon you don't need a file: the Chess.com tab of Import games finds your public, completed games by username.
- Classic games. Historical games such as the Opera Game are widely published and free to study. Annotations and published collections can be protected, so prefer bare move lists or your own notes when you share files.
How do I open and review a PGN file?
- Open ChessPigeon and select the + button in the sidebar (tooltip Import game), or press I.
- In the Import games dialog, stay on the File or text tab.
- Select Choose a file or drop a .pgn file onto the dialog. Alternatively, paste the text into Or paste a game/position.
- Select Analyze. The first game opens on the board and its review starts automatically.
A file can hold up to 500 games and be up to 5 MB. When you import more than one game, ChessPigeon opens the first and switches to My games, where the rest are listed. Imported games are added to your library in this browser.
Study the game
Move through the game with the arrow buttons under the board or the keyboard:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| ← | Previous move |
| → | Next move |
| Shift + ← or Home | First position |
| Shift + → or End | Last position |
| F | Flip the board |
Comments from the PGN appear with the position they belong to. Where the game has more than one continuation, the panel lists them as move chips, with the main line marked. Play any move on the board to start your own variation; ← Return to main line brings you back.
Export a backup
To keep a portable copy, select Export game (the download icon in the game panel):
- PGN or JSON under Game & variations saves the whole game. A reviewed game's PGN includes the engine evaluations as comments.
- FEN or EPD under Current position saves only the position on the board.
Saved games live in your browser, so a PGN backup is the safest way to keep games you care about. Clearing your browser data deletes the saved copies.
When a PGN won't import
ChessPigeon checks every move as it imports. If something is wrong, it tells you what and where. The most common messages:
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Illegal move “X” at move N. The game was not imported. | The move list has a typo or a missing move. Open the file in a text editor and check that move against the original game. |
| The PGN has an unclosed comment or malformed header. | Look for a { without a matching }, or a tag line missing its closing ] or quote. |
| The PGN has an unmatched variation parenthesis. | Every ( needs a matching ). Count them around the variations. |
| The variant “X” is not supported yet. Import a standard chess game. | Only standard chess is supported. Chess960 and other variants can't be imported. |
| Import is limited to 5 MB. Split this collection into smaller files. | Split a large database into several files, each under 5 MB and 500 games. |
| No chess moves or valid position were found. | Check that you pasted PGN movetext or a FEN, not a web page or a game link. |
Still stuck? See Troubleshooting.
Ready to try? Copy the complete Opera Game and paste it into Import games:
[Event "A night at the opera"]
[Site "Paris, France"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Paul Morphy"]
[Black "Duke of Brunswick & Count Isouard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Opening "Philidor Defense"]
{Paul Morphy's Opera Game, Paris, 1858.}
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Bxf3
5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Qb3 Qe7 8. Nc3 c6
9. Bg5 b5 10. Nxb5 cxb5 11. Bxb5+ Nbd7 12. O-O-O Rd8
13. Rxd7 Rxd7 14. Rd1 Qe6 15. Bxd7+ Nxd7
16. Qb8+ {A queen sacrifice clears the way for the final rook.} Nxb8
17. Rd8# 1-0