pgn-viewer is a simple JavaScript implementation to show PGN files (Portable Game Notation == Chess) in a web page. pgn-viewer does not write everything anew, but it uses the following libraries:
- chess.js Base library to model chess in JavaScript
- Chessground The chessboard used by lichess.org
- pgn-reader Backend for the viewer (former part of this repository, now separate repo)
- pgn-parser My own parser based on peggy (formerly pegjs)
See the section Acknowledgments for more supporting libraries.
See the working examples on my new GitHub Pages site pgn-viewer, especially the Configuration Builder that demonstrates all parameters in a running example.
The easiest way to use it is to install it by using NPM: npm install @mliebelt/pgn-viewer. You will find there the diretory lib that contains everything. Copy that onto your webserver.
The following are example screenshots with the configuration set below, to show the rich possibilities of pgn-viewer.
The screenshots show from left to right:
mode: board; theme: sportverlagmode: edit; headers: false; theme: 'brown'with commentsmode: view; layout: 'left', pieceStyle: 'leipzig', theme: 'zeit'with comments
Go to the github.io pages (documentation), where the viewer is documented and shown.
This implementation has the following features:
- Allows to show one or many chess games complete, with a lot of different styles, themes, tuning, ...
- Allows to play through the games forward and backward, including variations.
- Allows to play from a legal position only legal moves.
- Knows all PGN notation elements, and knows how to render them.
There are five different kind of usages:
PGNV.pgnViewrenders the whole game, and allows to play it through, jump to any position.PGNV.pgnEditis a superset of pgnView, that allows to additional add variations, change the order of main line and variations, and other kind of interactions like adding comments, PGN notation elements, ...PGNV.pgnBoardwill just show a position without any interaction possible.PGNV.pgnPrintwill just show a whole chess game, without any interaction possible.PGNV.pgnPuzzlelets you solve a puzzle. If you play the right move of the underlying pgn, the opponent's move is played automatically and it is your turn again. Only the already played moves are shown to the user. The mode is new and the plan is to develop it further (e.g. giving hints)
There is at the moment no way to save a game that was edited in pgnEdit mode. But you may at least copy the whole notation, and insert it again in the HTML code of your web page.
- Run
npm test.
- Start a local webserver (like
http-server) inside the root directory, and visit the pagehttp://localhost:<port>/examples. - Browse through the many examples in the sub-directories, or visit the configuration builder in directory
examples/configuration/config.html.
- Copy the files from directory
libinto a web server. - Create new HTML files with the corresponding head and body.
- Clone the repository.
- Run
npm installfrom the root, to ensure that all tools are installed. - Run
npm run buildin the root directory. - Copy the files from the directory
lib. - Create new HTML files with the corresponding head and body.
To use the viewer in an HTML page, you have to do the following steps:
- Include the necessary library
pgnv.js. - Include the necessary div container for rendering of the board and the moves.
- Include JavaScript code inside your HTML page to call the viewer.
So a rough template will look like:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<head>
<script src="lib/dist.js" type="text/javascript" ></script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="board"></div>
<script>
PGNV.pgnView('board',{ pgn: '1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5', pieceStyle: 'merida' });
</script>
</body>
</html>See the example in react.md how to run the viewer in a react application.
If you find something strange (bug), expect some feature (feature) or just want to comment on anything, please file first a ticket in Github.
If you want to help in implementing something, clone the repository, change whatever you want to, and provide a pull request that I can look at.
We use SemVer for versioning. For the versions available, see the tags on this repository.
From the version 1.0.0 on, the whole package can be downloaded / installed by using NPM:
- Download:
npm pack @mliebelt/[email protected]Results in download of a filemliebelt-pgn-viewer-1.5.9.tgz, that contains in the directorypackage/liball resources needed. - Install:
npm install @mliebelt/[email protected]as part of some other application. You will find then the files in the directorynode_modules/@mliebelt/pgn-viewer/lib.
The roadmap is publicly documented in file roadmap.md, and will be updated from time to time.
- Markus Liebelt - mliebelt
pgn-viewer is distributed under the GPL-3.0 license (or any later version, at your option), due to its use of Chessground. When you use pgn-viewer for your website, your combined work may be distributed only under the GPL. You must release your source code to the users of your website.
Please read more about GPL for JavaScript on greendrake.info/#nfy0.
We use the following libraries in the implementation:
- chess.js Base library to model chess in JavaScript
- Chessground The chessboard used by lichess.org
- Mousetrap Binds keys to actions in the UI
- roddeh-i18n Internationalization (== i18n) library to translate chess into current 18 languages. Strings are inlined in the library.
- timer.ts.old Small timer for automatic moves
- FontAwesome Nice icon font used for some buttons
- PGN Specification PGN (Portable Game Notation) specification
- NAG Specification Definition of the NAGs (Numeric Annotation Glyphs)
- PGN Specification Supplement Addition for adding graphical elements, clock values, eval, ...
Thank you a lot to all contributors of issues.
- PgnJS Plugin for Mediawiki that uses pgn-viewer to display chess games.
- pgn-viewer-WP Plugin for Wordpress to show games with the help of pgn-viewer
- The Chess Centre Replaying games produced by DGT live boards following OTB events.