Your best games are stuck on paper. A handwritten scoresheet from a tournament or club night is hard to share, impossible to replay online, and easy to lose. ScanChess turns that piece of paper into a real chess game file — just take a picture.
Upload a photo and our AI OCR reads your handwriting, converts every move into standard algebraic notation, and hands you a ready-to-use PGN. No retyping move by move. No squinting at smudged ink. From picture to PGN chess file in about the time it takes to pour a coffee.
From paper to playable file
ScanChess was built for one job: getting handwritten chess into a clean digital format you can actually use. Snap, upload, review, download. The moves land in your hands as a proper .pgn you can open anywhere.
How it works
- Snap a photo. Lay the scoresheet flat, get good light, and capture the whole sheet in one shot. Your phone camera is all you need.
- Upload. Send the photo to ScanChess on the web or through our WeChat mini-program. The AI reads the handwriting and transcribes each move into SAN.
- Review and download PGN. Check the recognized moves, fix anything the legality check flags, then download your PGN — or replay the game right in the interactive board.
Why use ScanChess
- Accurate OCR for handwriting. Trained to read messy, real-world scoresheets, not just printed text.
- Clean PGN export. Get a file that opens straight into Lichess, Chess.com, or ChessBase for analysis and sharing.
- Move-legality validation. Every move is checked against the rules, and illegal or ambiguous moves are flagged so you catch mistakes before exporting.
- Interactive replay. Step through the game move by move on a live board to confirm the transcription matches what you played.
- Board photos too. Got a position instead of a scoresheet? Photograph the board and get a FEN string back.
- Works where you do. Full web app plus a WeChat mini-program, so you can scan from your desk or your phone.
- Free starter credits. Try it on your own games before you commit a cent.
Photographing the board itself instead of a scoresheet? The same scanner reads positions and returns FEN — start at /board-recognition.
Stop retyping your games
Every scoresheet you leave in a drawer is a game you can't study, share, or revisit. With ScanChess, one photo gives you a clean PGN and an interactive replay in moments.
Want the full walkthrough first? Read How to convert a handwritten scoresheet to PGN, or brush up on the format with What is PGN?. When you're ready, take a picture and let ScanChess do the typing.