Supported Formats
PGN (Portable Game Notation)
Section titled “PGN (Portable Game Notation)”Masterboard reads and writes standard PGN (.pgn files). Both single-game and multi-game files are supported.
What Masterboard reads
Section titled “What Masterboard reads”| PGN feature | Supported |
|---|---|
| Standard algebraic notation | Yes |
[Tag "Value"] headers (all standard tags) | Yes |
NAG symbols ($1 through $6) | Yes |
Text move suffixes (!, ?, !!, ??, !?, ?!) | Yes |
Free-text comments { ... } | Yes |
Clock annotations { [%clk H:MM:SS] } | Read (stored but not displayed) |
Arrow/highlight annotations { [%cal ...] [%csl ...] } | Read (stored but not displayed) |
RAV variations (1.e4 e5 (1...c5)) | Yes — all variations imported |
| Multi-game files | Yes |
What Masterboard writes
Section titled “What Masterboard writes”The PGN button in the Home page board toolbar copies the current game to the clipboard as standard PGN, containing:
- All standard tag headers
- Full move tree including all variations
- NAG symbols and free-text comments
- Board arrows and square highlights (as
[%cal]/[%csl]annotations in comments)
The copied PGN is standard and can be pasted into ChessBase, Scid, Arena, or any other PGN-compatible application. Repertoires can additionally be exported to a .pgn file from the Openings side-nav, and opponent reports to PGN from the Reports page.
chess.com and Lichess exports
Section titled “chess.com and Lichess exports”Masterboard correctly handles PGN files exported directly from chess.com and Lichess, including:
- Clock annotations in move comments
- Evaluation annotations from Lichess’s computer analysis
- Variation branches from Lichess analysis mode
FEN (Forsyth-Edwards Notation)
Section titled “FEN (Forsyth-Edwards Notation)”FEN strings describe a specific board position. Masterboard uses FEN in two places:
- Home page toolbar: paste a FEN string into the FEN field to jump directly to that position.
- Board editor: when you set up a position in the board editor (“Edit Position…”), the current FEN is shown and can be copied.
Standard FEN format: rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
Masterboard validates FEN on input and shows an error if the position is illegal.
Polyglot opening books
Section titled “Polyglot opening books”Masterboard supports Polyglot (.bin) opening book files for both import and export.
- Import: On the Openings page, use the side-nav Import menu → Import Polyglot .bin… to merge a
.binfile into a repertoire. See Polyglot Books. - Export: Use a repertoire row’s Export menu → Export Polyglot .bin… to produce a
.binfile for use with UCI engines and GUIs. Comments and NAG symbols are not included in the Polyglot format.