PGN comment syntax

PGN means Portable Game Notation, a text format for recording games. Within PGN movetext, comments add explanations that are not interpreted as moves.

The two comment forms

• A brace comment starts with { and ends at the next }. It can contain text and continue across a line break.
• A semicolon comment starts with ; and continues to the end of that line.

A comment cannot begin in the middle of another notation element, such as a move name. Brace comments do not nest: an opening brace inside an active brace comment does not create a second level. A semicolon loses its special role inside a brace comment, while braces are treated as ordinary text inside a semicolon comment.

Some applications place a PGN embedded command inside a brace comment. A reader that does not understand the command can still preserve the surrounding comment as text when it follows the outer syntax.