PGN import format

PGN means Portable Game Notation, a text format for recording games. The PGN import format describes text that a reading program should be able to receive. It is designed for hand-prepared data and output from programs with different styles, so it tolerates more variation than the PGN export format. Both represent the same game; the difference is how strictly the text must be laid out.

Import text can use flexible spaces and line breaks. Several tag pairs may share a line, and one pair may even span lines. Tag order is not important for reading. Move numbers may be omitted or use less rigid punctuation, provided their meaning remains consistent.

The specification also allows a reader to be forgiving about some noncanonical SAN forms, where SAN means Standard Algebraic Notation for moves. The exact tolerance depends on the application. This does not make arbitrary text valid PGN: moves must still be interpretable, cannot be illegal in the game, and the result must remain understandable.

An importer normally reads the input and converts it into an internal representation. If it later writes the game again, it should produce canonical export form rather than preserve every spacing irregularity.