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How to Read PGN and FEN (Chess File Formats)

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On this page
  1. Notation and board coordinates
  2. PGN: a whole game in text
  3. FEN: a snapshot of one position
  4. Keep learning
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Two plain-text formats are used widely to exchange chess information: PGN records games and annotations, while FEN records a single position. PGN move text uses algebraic notation; FEN uses a separate six-field position description. Knowing which one you have tells you whether a tool can reconstruct the move history or only the current board.

Notation and board coordinates

PGN movetext uses algebraic notation. Squares are named file-then-rank from White’s left: a1 is White’s bottom-left corner, h8 is Black’s. Pieces are K, Q, R, B, N (knight); pawns get no letter. Nf3 means "knight to f3" and e4 means "pawn to e4". Captures add x (Bxe5), checks add + and mate adds #. Castling is O-O or O-O-O, and when identical pieces could legally reach the same square, a file, rank or both disambiguate the mover: Rad1. FEN does not record moves, but it uses the same square coordinates and piece letters. The full move-notation reference is at chess notation.

♜♞♝♛♚♝♞♜♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♜♞♝♛♚♝♞♜
The starting position — rank 1 nearest White, files a–h left to right.

PGN: a whole game in text

Portable Game Notation places the moves in numbered pairs — 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 — usually after header tags in square brackets such as [White "Carlsen"] and [Result "1-0"]. Comments can sit in curly braces and variations in parentheses, allowing an annotated game to survive as plain text. Many chess services export PGN, although extensions and annotation syntax vary. Paste a standard PGN into the PGN viewer and replay its main line.

FEN: a snapshot of one position

Forsyth–Edwards Notation describes a position in one line of six fields: piece placement from rank 8 down to rank 1 and file a to h (uppercase letters are White pieces, lowercase letters are Black pieces, and digits count empty squares), the side to move, castling rights, the en-passant target square if any, and the halfmove and fullmove counters. It contains no repetition history or earlier moves. Paste one into the FEN viewer, or build a position in the board editor and copy the FEN it produces.

Paste a PGN or FEN into the free viewer

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