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Rules & notation

PGN

Portable Game Notation

The standard text format for recording a whole game — its moves, players, result and comments.

A PGN file lists the game's headers (players, event, result) and then the moves in algebraic notation, optionally with variations and comments. It is what you export from a site to analyse elsewhere.

Because it is plain text, PGN is portable across every chess program in existence.

Why it matters

To analyse your games you export them as PGN and load them into an analysis board or engine — including this one.

The mistake everyone makes

Losing your games because you never export the PGN; without it, there is nothing to learn from later.

Related terms

FEN
A single line of text that captures an exact position — pieces, side to move, castling rights and more.
Algebraic notation
The standard way to record moves: files a–h, ranks 1–8, so e4 and Nf3 mean exact squares.
Elo rating
A number measuring playing strength; you gain points for beating higher-rated players and lose them for losing to lower-rated ones.
Tactic
A short, forcing sequence of moves that wins material or delivers mate.

See PGN in your own games

Play the engine, train tactics, and analyse your games — ChessRanger points out these patterns as they come up so the word turns into a skill. Free to start.

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