PGN upload format

PGN is the standard plain-text format for storing chess games. A PGN game has header tags in square brackets, followed by the moves.

If you have an externally provided PGN file, just give it a go. Connected Rooks is quite robust at handling standard PGN files.

Minimal format

Connected Rooks expects normal PGN text. For reliable import, include at least an Event tag, White, Black, Result, and legal movetext.

[Event "Example"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2025.01.01"]
[White "PlayerA"]
[Black "PlayerB"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 1-0

Multiple games can be placed back-to-back in the same file. Connected Rooks uses PGN headers such as [Event "..."] to split games.

Useful optional fields

Connected Rooks can use common PGN metadata when present, including Date, UTCDate, UTCTime, TimeControl, WhiteElo, BlackElo, ECO, ECOUrl, Opening, Termination, Link, Site, Round, Timezone, StartTime, EndDate, EndTime, CurrentPosition, FEN, SetUp, and Variant.

Date fields should use PGN date format with periods. UTCDate should be the UTC calendar date, and UTCTime should use a 24-hour clock.

[Date "2025.01.01"]
[UTCDate "2025.01.01"]
[UTCTime "18:42:09"]

TimeControl is usually base seconds plus increment seconds. A 10-minute game is 600; a 3+2 blitz game is 180+2. Daily/correspondence exports may use forms with a slash, such as 1/259200.

[TimeControl "600"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]

Ratings should be numeric when available. Connected Rooks reads WhiteElo and BlackElo for White/Black reference datasets and for player/opponent ratings in specific-player uploads.

[WhiteElo "2018"]
[BlackElo "2053"]

Opening metadata is optional, but useful. ECO should be the ECO code, ECOUrl can point to the source opening page, and Opening can contain the opening name supplied by the source.

[ECO "D11"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Slav-Defense"]
[Opening "Slav Defense: Modern Breyer Variation"]

Source links and termination details are also useful for filtering and audit columns.

[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/143768702234"]
[Termination "Black won on time"]

Clock comments such as { [%clk 0:09:57.5] } are useful for time-usage metrics. Games without clock comments can still import, but clock-derived fields may be blank.

1. d4 { [%clk 0:09:57.5] } 1... Nf6 { [%clk 0:09:58.2] }

TXT files

A .txt upload must contain the same PGN format as a .pgn file. The extension can be .txt, but the contents still need PGN headers and PGN movetext.

Compressed files

The server handles plain .pgn and .txt files, .zip files containing PGNs, and Zstandard-compressed PGNs using .zst or .pgn.zst.

Good open-source compression tools include 7-Zip, PeaZip, and the Zstandard command-line tools. ZIP is the easiest choice for most users; Zstandard is useful for large PGN files when available.