Turn handwritten scoresheets into clean PGN
Snap a photo of your chess scoresheet. ScanChess transcribes every move, checks it for legality, and hands you a clean PGN — ready for Lichess, Chess.com, or deep analysis.
Handwritten · the original
From paper to PGN in three steps
No typing, no manual transcription, no learning curve.
Photograph the scoresheet
A clear, flat, well-lit photo is all it takes — phone or scanner, no app to install.
AI reads every move
ScanChess transcribes the notation and validates each move against the board as it goes.
Review & export
Fix anything flagged in one click, then download your game or replay it move by move.
Everything you need to digitize your games
Reads your handwriting
AI OCR turns a photo of a handwritten scoresheet into clean algebraic notation — even messy pen.
Catches mistakes
Every move is checked for legality, so illegal or ambiguous entries are flagged before you export.
Exports standard PGN
Download a .pgn that drops straight into Lichess, Chess.com, ChessBase, or SCID.
Seconds, not minutes
A whole game scans in seconds — no slow, error-prone manual typing.
Guides on notation & PGN
How to Read a Chess Scoresheet: A Beginner's Guide
A beginner-friendly walkthrough of how a chess scoresheet is laid out, how to read move pairs and result codes, and what every symbol means.
Chess Notation Explained: Algebraic Notation (SAN) Basics
A friendly, practical guide to reading and writing chess moves in Standard Algebraic Notation (SAN), with clear examples for captures, castling, check, promotion, and disambiguation.
What Is PGN? The Chess Game Format, Explained
PGN is the universal text format for recording chess games. Here is what the tags and movetext mean, where PGN is used, and how to open a .pgn file.
Ready to digitize your scoresheets?
Upload your first game and get a clean, validated PGN in seconds.