My scoresheet runs onto a second page. Is that two scans?

No. Upload every image of the sheet together — up to 10, at 15 MB each — and the moves are merged in order. It is charged as one scan, 2 credits, however many images it takes.

What happens to a move it cannot read?

It still appears in the move list, colored. Amber means the model was unsure, and the editor lists the moves that are legal in that position; red means the reading is illegal there. Either way you pick or type the right move and the rest of the game re-checks from that point.

Can I edit the moves before I export?

Yes, and it costs nothing. Fix any move with the pencil button, fill in the players and event, and export once the game on the board matches the game on paper.

Convert a Chess Scoresheet to PGN

You start with a sheet of paper: a tournament scoresheet, or a page from a scorebook, with the moves written by hand in algebraic notation. You end with a .pgn file that opens in any chess program. This page is the whole process in between; each step also has a page of its own, listed at the end.

What you need

The scoresheet, flattened. Both sides, if the game ran onto the back.
A phone or a browser. There is nothing to install: the scanner runs at scanchess.com/scan, and there is an iOS app if you would rather use the camera directly.
Moves in standard algebraic notation (e4, Nf3, O-O). That is what the recognizer reads. Descriptive notation (P-K4) is shown as scanned but not converted, replayed or rule-checked, so translate an old sheet to algebraic first.

The photo

One photo per side, taken straight down in even light, with all four corners of the sheet in the frame. That habit decides most of the accuracy: the recognizer reads what the photo contains and cannot recover a move under a shadow or across a fold. The full checklist is on Photo to PGN.

Upload every image of the same game together, up to 10 of them at 15 MB each (JPG, PNG or WebP; HEIC is not accepted). They are merged in order and charged as one scan.

What comes back

A few seconds later the moves are on screen twice: as a move list in standard notation, and on a board that replays them. The vision model reads the handwriting move by move, and each move is played onto the board as it is read, so every reading is checked against the rules of chess as well as against the ink.

Two colors tell you where to look:

Red — a move that is illegal in that position. Usually a misread letter or digit: Nb5 where no knight can reach b5.
Amber — a move the model was not confident about. The editor lists the moves that are legal in that position, so you pick the right one instead of retyping it.

Nothing is silently accepted. A wrong reading either breaks the rules and turns red, or is flagged amber. The one case that needs your memory is a misreading that happens to be legal, which is what the replay board is for. How the reading itself works is on Scan chess notation.

Checking and editing

Step through the game on the board, or jump straight to the colored moves. The pencil button beside any move opens it for editing; change it and the rest of the game re-validates from that point. If you cannot read the handwriting either, the original photo stays attached to the game so you can zoom in on it.

Fill in the players, event, date, round and result while the sheet is in front of you. They become the PGN header, and they are the only way you will find the game again once you have fifty of them.

Editing, replay and the saved history are free; only the recognition used credits.

Exporting

Download the .pgn, or copy it. It opens in Lichess, Chess.com, ChessBase, SCID and any text editor, because the format is plain text. For engine analysis, paste it into Lichess or Chess.com and a full accuracy report is a minute away. What the file contains is on Chess PGN converter, and What is PGN? covers the format itself.

The game also stays in your library, synced between the web and the iOS app, and can be shared as a link.

What it costs

A scoresheet scan is 2 credits, whatever the number of images. Everything after recognition is free. A new account starts with 10 credits; Pro ($4.99/month or $29.99/year) adds 100 credits every 30 days, Pro+ ($19.99/month or $119.99/year) adds 500, and credits never expire, even if you cancel. Prices are in US dollars. Details are on the pricing page and in how credits work.

Going deeper on one step

This page is the whole process; How to convert a handwritten scoresheet to PGN is the same walk with screenshots. Each stage also has a page of its own:

If your question is	Read
How do I take a photo that converts cleanly?	Photo to PGN
How does my handwriting become notation?	Scan chess notation
What is the file, and where does it open?	Chess PGN converter
What is this tool, and what does it cost?	Chess scoresheet scanner
Can it read a board, not just a sheet?	Chess board scanner
I have years of sheets to get through	Digitize your chess games

And by who you are: coaches, arbiters and organizers, chess parents.

The first five scoresheets are on us: a new account starts with 10 credits, and the checking habit you build on them is the one you will use on the five-hundredth.