How to import Chess.com and Lichess games

What you need before you start

A PGN is a plain text file with the moves, players, result, date and, when available, the time control. It is the most portable way to move a completed game between tools. You can export one game, a month of games or a full season, and you can keep the file as a record even if a platform changes its interface.

You only need access to your own completed games or a public username. Deblunder reads public game data and PGN files, never your Chess.com or Lichess password, and it is not affiliated with either platform. Analysis belongs between games: do not use an engine or an analysis tool during a rated game.

• The file names both players and the result, not just the move list.
• The time control is present, so rapid and blitz are not mixed by accident.
• The game is finished and not an abandoned or aborted attempt.
• You know whether the file contains one game or many.
• Clock times are included if you intend to study time management.

Export one game from Chess.com

Open the completed game and go to the Analysis tab. Select the Share icon at the bottom of the panel, open the PGN tab and choose Download. If you want clock times, enable the clock checkbox before downloading. Chess.com also lets you include annotations or the computer analysis, but the support documentation says you cannot save both in the same PGN.

On Android, open the game, tap More and choose Export PGN. On iOS, open Game Analysis, tap Options and then Share. You can copy the PGN text instead of saving a file, which is useful when the receiving tool accepts pasted PGN.

The official walkthrough with screenshots is Chess.com's PGN guide. Interface names can change, so treat the exact menu labels as a snapshot, not a permanent contract.

Export many Chess.com games

For a larger sample, open Game History, tick the games you want, or use the top checkbox to select all visible games, then choose the Download action. You can filter by time control, date, opponent and game type before selecting. This is the practical way to build a sample for a monthly review instead of judging your play from one loss.

Chess.com's archive shows up to 100 pages of results at a time. If you have years of games, filter by date or time control before downloading. Bot and Coach games are private and are not part of the public game archive used by third-party tools.

There is also a public monthly endpoint. Replace the username, year and month in `https://api.chess.com/pub/player/USERNAME/games/2026/10/pgn` and open it in a browser to download that month. Public game data is subject to Chess.com's API terms and rate limits, and the endpoint only returns games that are publicly visible.

Export games from Lichess

On a finished Lichess game, open the game menu and choose the PGN export option, or use the Import game page to paste PGN text. The Lichess API can also download public games for a username: `https://lichess.org/api/games/user/USERNAME` with the header `Accept: application/x-chess-pgn`. The API documentation at lichess.org/api lists the optional filters, including time control, rated games and a maximum count.

Lichess accounts are public by default, but private or deleted games will not appear in an export. Keep the player colour in mind when you open the file. A PGN does not tell an analysis tool which side you played unless the receiving interface asks you or infers it from the username.

• Export a small batch first and confirm that the games open correctly.
• Do not mix bullet, blitz and rapid in one sample unless you label the comparison.
• If a file contains games from both colours, check that the tool understands your username.
• Keep the original PGN before editing tags or deleting games.

Check the file before you analyze

Most import failures are not mysterious. A PGN can be empty because the game was private, because a filter excluded it or because the download failed. It can contain a variant that the receiving tool does not support, or several games concatenated without a clear separator. It can also be missing clock data, which limits any conclusion about time trouble.

Open the file in a text editor for a few seconds. You should see tags in square brackets, then numbered moves. If the file begins with a web page or a login screen, the download did not work. If the move list stops before the result, the game may have been abandoned or the export may be incomplete.

• One clean PGN per game is easier to inspect than a mixed archive.
• A result tag of `*` means the result is unknown or the game is unfinished.
• Duplicate games inflate the sample and can distort a recurring-cause count.
• Variant tags such as Chess960 need a tool that supports that variant.
• A missing `TimeControl` tag makes rapid and blitz comparisons unreliable.

Turn the file into a review, not a score

An engine review is a map, not a verdict. Load the PGN, find the moments where the evaluation changed sharply, and then explain each one in your own words: what you intended, which reply you missed, and which relation on the board made the reply work. That explanation is the part a score cannot give you.

This is the workflow in how to analyze a chess game. Start without the engine, mark two or three uncertain decisions, then verify the consequences. Accuracy numbers are useful context, but they do not replace the cause. The guide to chess accuracy scores explains why the same game can produce different numbers on different platforms.

If the same cause appears across several games, it becomes a training target. The guide to stopping blunders turns that target into a pre-move check you can use in the next game.

Import into Deblunder

Deblunder accepts Chess.com and Lichess by public username, or PGN files. Preparation analyzes up to 10 games in the chosen time control and can expand to 30. Later syncs bring only new games. Rapid is the default, and Blitz, Bullet or all controls together are available, but ratings and samples from different controls are never mixed.

The first diagnosis and first training are free without a card. Continued full access has paid conditions shown in the app, including a seven-day trial. Deblunder is a study tool for completed games, not live assistance, and it does not guarantee a rating gain. The full method, limits and current access terms are in how Deblunder works.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further reading

• Chess.com: how to get a PGN of my game
• Chess.com: how to view and download games
• Lichess API documentation
• Deblunder: how it works