Why I Built a Free Chess PGN Viewer (And Why Premium Tools Miss the Mark)

By Jack Green · 5 min read

If you play chess online and want to analyze your games, you've probably hit the wall: every decent analysis tool wants a $10-$15/month subscription.

Chess.com Premium. Lichess Premium (still limited). ChessBase. All great products — but all charging recurring fees for something that, technically, runs entirely in your browser.

So I built Chess PGN Viewer — a free, client-side PGN analyzer that loads your game files and lets you navigate moves on a visual board. No server. No account. No monthly fee.

What It Does

• Load PGN files — drag & drop or paste directly
• Visual board — click through moves with a responsive chessboard
• Game info sidebar — event, players, ECO code, date, result
• Dark/light theme — follows your system preference or toggle manually
• Sample games included — try the Immortal Game with one click

Everything runs in your browser using chess.js for game logic and chessboard.js for rendering. Your PGN files never leave your device.

Why This Matters

Most chess tools blur the line between "play online" and "analyze offline." You want to study a PGN file from a tournament or a puzzle collection — you shouldn't need to upload it anywhere.

This tool is for the player who:

• Downloads PGNs from Lichess/Chess.com after a game
• Wants to walk through moves on a real-looking board
• Doesn't want to pay $144/year for a subscription they barely use

The Cost Problem

Tool	Monthly	Yearly	What You Get
Chess.com Premium	$9.99	$119.88	Online play + limited analysis
Lichess Premium	$5	$60	Ad-free + some features
ChessBase	$50+	$600+	Desktop engine analysis
Chess PGN Viewer	$0	$0	Your games, in your browser

Open Source & Paid

The tool itself is free and always will be. But if you find it useful, there's a paid version with extra features coming soon — unlimited games, deeper analysis, custom themes. Check it out.

No subscription. One-time $12.

Try It

Go to chess.jackgreen.top and paste any PGN. Start with the sample Immortal Game if you're new.

Built with ❤️ and too many hours of chess analysis.