How to Import a PGN for Chess Analysis

What a PGN file is, where to get one from Chess.com, Lichess, or your board app, and how to import it to run a free engine analysis of any game.

A PGN is the universal format for a recorded chess game, and importing one is the fastest way to analyze a game that did not happen on the site you normally use. Whether it is an over-the-board game, a tournament game, or a game from another app, if you can get the PGN you can get a full engine review. Here is how.

What is a PGN?

PGN stands for Portable Game Notation. It is a plain text format that lists the moves of a game along with tags like the players, date, and result. Because it is just text, every serious chess program reads and writes it, which is exactly why it is so useful for analysis: one file works everywhere.

Where to get a PGN

• Chess.com: open a game, then use the share or download option to copy the PGN or save the file.
• Lichess: every game and study has a PGN download, and you can export your whole game history.
• Board and tournament apps: most let you export a game or a scoresheet as PGN.
• Type it yourself: if you only have a scoresheet, the moves alone (for example 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3) are enough to analyze.

How to import and analyze it

You have two options: paste the PGN text directly, or upload the .pgn file. The analyzer reads the moves, rebuilds every position, and runs the engine over the whole game. A single PGN can also contain many games, so an exported history can be browsed game by game.

What you get back

The same report you would get for an online game: an accuracy score, an evaluation graph, and a label on every move from Best to Blunder. If you are not sure how to read those, the guides on accuracy and move classifications break them down.

Troubleshooting common PGN problems

Most import failures come down to a handful of causes. A file saved with the wrong extension (like .txt instead of .pgn) usually still works if you paste the text directly instead of uploading the file. Missing move numbers or headers can confuse a strict parser, but a lenient one only needs the move list itself. If a PGN contains variations or comments in curly braces, most tools strip them automatically and analyze the main line; if a game refuses to load entirely, check that the moves are in standard algebraic notation (Nf3, not Ng1-f3) and that the file has not been truncated.

What if you do not have a PGN at all?

If your only record is a handwritten scoresheet from an over-the-board game, you do not need special software to create a PGN — a numbered list of moves in plain text (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 ...) is already valid PGN on its own. Type it out once and you can analyze that classical game exactly like an online one.

Importing your whole game history at once

Both Chess.com and Lichess let you export your entire game archive as a single PGN file containing hundreds or thousands of games. That same file can usually be browsed game by game after import, which means you can pull years of games from an app you no longer use and review any of them, without needing an active account on the site where you originally played.

Why this matters

Your most instructive games are often the ones not played online: the long classical game at the club, the tournament loss that still bugs you. PGN import means none of them go unreviewed. Paste a PGN into Chesslume and get a free Stockfish report in under a minute. No signup required.