Once you have a game saved as a PGN file, Lichess is one of the fastest places to bring it back to life. You can replay every move, flip the board, get free computer evaluation, and share a link with a friend or coach. This guide walks through the two main ways to load a game into Lichess and shows you how to get a PGN in the first place, even if your game only exists on a paper scoresheet.

What you need before you start

To import a game, you need the game in PGN format. PGN (Portable Game Notation) is the plain-text standard chess software uses to store games. It looks like a list of moves in standard algebraic notation (SAN), optionally with tags for the event, players, and result.

Here is a short example of a valid PGN:

[Event "Casual Game"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2026.05.20"]
[White "Player A"]
[Black "Player B"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7
6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 1-0

You can paste the text of a PGN directly, or upload a .pgn file. Either works.

Method 1: Import a game on the Analysis board

This is the quickest path for a single game and requires no account, though signing in lets you save your work.

1. Go to lichess.org and open the Analysis board (look under the "Tools" or "Learn" area of the main menu).
2. Find the import / load PGN panel. On the analysis page there is a text box, usually below the move list, where you can paste PGN.
3. Paste your full PGN text into that box, or use the file option to select your .pgn file.
4. Submit the import. Lichess parses the moves and loads them onto the board.
5. Use the arrow keys or the on-screen controls to step through the game move by move.

If Lichess rejects the import, the most common cause is invalid or illegal notation, for example a move that is not legal in the position, or a typo like Ng5 when no knight can reach g5. Clean up the moves and try again.

Turn on computer analysis

After the game loads, you can request computer analysis. Lichess will run its engine over the whole game, mark mistakes, blunders, and inaccuracies, and draw an evaluation graph. This is the payoff of importing: you see exactly where the game turned. For a deeper walkthrough of reviewing your own games this way, see analyzing chess games from scoresheets.

Method 2: Import a PGN into a Study

A Study is better when you want to keep games organized, annotate them, or import several at once. You will need to be signed in.

1. Open the Study section on Lichess and create a new study.
2. Inside the study, add a new chapter.
3. In the chapter creation dialog, choose the option to import from PGN. Paste your PGN text or upload the file.
4. Create the chapter. The game appears as a chapter you can replay, comment on, and share.

Studies accept multiple games in one PGN paste, creating a chapter per game, which is handy when you are digitizing a stack of scoresheets at once. You can add variations, text comments, and arrows, then share a single link.

Tip: getting a PGN from a paper scoresheet

If your game only lives on a handwritten scoresheet, you do not have to retype every move. With ScanChess, you photograph the scoresheet and AI OCR converts your handwriting into SAN moves and a downloadable PGN file. The tool also flags moves that look illegal so you can fix transcription errors before they break your Lichess import, which saves you the back-and-forth of a rejected paste.

Here is the fast route from paper to Lichess:

1. Take a clear, well-lit photo of your scoresheet.
2. Upload it to the board recognition scanner and let the OCR produce SAN moves.
3. Review the flagged moves and export the PGN.
4. Use Method 1 or Method 2 above to load that PGN into Lichess.

ScanChess can also turn a photo of a physical board into a FEN position, validate move legality, and let you replay the game interactively before you ever leave the site. If you are new to notation, our guide on how to read a chess scoresheet explains the symbols you will see in your exported PGN.

Troubleshooting common import errors

• "Invalid PGN" or a rejected move: Lichess validates legality. A single bad move stops the import. Re-check that move against the board, or re-export from a tool that flags illegal moves.
• Only the first game loads: The Analysis board handles one game at a time. Use a Study to import a multi-game PGN.
• Missing player names or date: These come from the PGN header tags. They are optional for replay, so the game still loads, you just lose the metadata. Add the [White], [Black], and [Date] tags if you want them.
• Strange characters: Make sure you are pasting plain text, not a formatted document. Copying from a PDF can introduce hidden characters that confuse the parser.

Wrap-up

Importing a PGN into Lichess takes under a minute once you have the file: paste it onto the Analysis board for a quick look, or load it into a Study to organize and annotate. The real friction is usually getting a clean PGN in the first place, especially from handwritten sheets.

Stop retyping moves by hand. Snap a photo of your scoresheet, run it through the ScanChess board recognition scanner, and export a ready-to-import PGN, then drop it straight into Lichess for instant computer analysis. Free starter credits let you try it on your next game. For more on the conversion itself, see how we convert a handwritten scoresheet to PGN.