Chess PGN Database Narrator

Browse PGN chess databases with an annotated board viewer and natural voice narration of moves and comments.

Chess PGN Database Narrator turns any PGN file into an interactive, narrated chess database — built for studying courses, opening repertoires, annotated master games, and full instructional collections, not just replaying a single game. WHY IT'S DIFFERENT Most PGN viewers just step through moves. This one is built around how chess study actually works: browsing a database of many games, reading dense annotations without losing your place, testing yourself on the moves instead of just watching them go by, and — its standout feature — having the moves and commentary read aloud so you can study hands-free, away from the screen. YOUR CHESS DATA NEVER LEAVES YOUR DEVICE Every PGN file you open — every game, move, comment, and annotation — is parsed and rendered entirely on your own machine. There is no server, no upload, and no sync: nothing about your files, your games, your own analysis, or how you use them is ever sent anywhere, by us or anyone else. Whether you're studying a private repertoire, an unpublished course, or your own analysis, it never leaves your computer. A few small preferences are also saved, purely locally: your last-viewed position in each database, your preferred board orientation per database, your chosen narration voice and speed, and your recents list. They live in your browser's local storage on your device and stay there — never transmitted, never logged, never visible to anyone but you. If you uninstall the extension, they're gone. ANONYMOUS USAGE ANALYTICS Separately from the above, the extension sends a small number of anonymous usage events (opening the extension, opening a PGN file, visiting the Recents tab, finishing a game) to help understand how it's actually used and guide future improvements. Each event is tied to a random ID generated on your own device — not your name, your Google account, your email, or any other identity — and never includes the contents of your PGN files, your games, your comments, player names, or anything else from your actual chess study material. Only the fact that an action happened is recorded, never what you were studying when it did. BROWSE YOUR PGN LIBRARY Open any .pgn file, single game or full multi-game database, and every game appears in a searchable sidebar list (search by player, event, or any text in the header). A recents tab keeps track of databases you've opened before, so you can jump straight back into what you were studying — and the app remembers exactly which game you were on in each file, so reopening a database picks up where you left off instead of starting over at game one. A FULL INTERACTIVE BOARD Every game renders on a real chess board with start / previous / next / end controls, plus a one-click toggle to flip which side is shown at the bottom — it remembers your choice per database, so a repertoire you study as Black always opens facing the right way. Click any move in the notation — including moves buried inside a sub-variation — and the board jumps straight to that position. No need to step through move by move if you already know where you want to look. And when a comment mentions a specific move or square ("...preparing Nf6", "control over the d5-square"), the board illustrates it live with an arrow or a highlighted square right as it's spoken, so the commentary isn't just words — you can see exactly what it's pointing at. TEST YOURSELF WITH TRAINING MODE Turn on Training Mode and the moves for your side of the board are hidden until you find them yourself — drag a piece or click it and then click the destination, the same way you'd actually play the game. Guess correctly and the opponent's reply plays automatically, so you're only ever quizzed on your own moves, never theirs. Guess wrong and the square flashes so you know to try again. Stuck on a move? The Hint button highlights which piece to move without giving away where it goes, so you still have to work out the move yourself. It turns a repertoire or a course into something you actively test yourself on, not just something you watch scroll by. NOTATION THAT'S ACTUALLY READABLE Long annotated games are usually a wall of text. This extension renders PGN notation the way a well-designed chess database does: main-line moves, variations, and commentary are each styled distinctly and color-coded by depth, so you can tell at a glance whether you're reading the main line or a side variation three levels deep. Numeric Annotation Glyphs (NAG codes) are converted into their familiar symbols (!, ?, !!, ??, !?, ?!, and more) instead of showing raw codes like $1 or $4. Short parenthetical asides that are just prose — not real sub-variations — are shown as plain inline text instead of being boxed off like a variation, so the page doesn't look more complicated than the content actually is. STUDY HANDS-FREE WITH NARRATION Press Play and the extension reads the game aloud — moves, comments, exercise prompts, and annotator's notes, all in natural speech. It's built to handle real annotated prose, not just clean move lists: a move buried mid-sentence ("the equalizing 12...d5!"), a disambiguated move ("Rab8"), a multi-step maneuver plan ("Nd2-Nf1-Ne3"), or a diagonal named by its two endpoints ("the d8-a5 diagonal") are all recognized and read out correctly — with proper handling of parentheses and punctuation inside comments — instead of being mangled or skipped. Choose from your system's available voices, adjust playback speed, and turn on auto-advance to move seamlessly from one game to the next in a database. Your voice and speed preferences are remembered automatically, so you don't have to reconfigure them every time you open the extension. It's a genuinely useful way to review an opening line, listen through an annotated master game, or work through a full instructional course while your eyes are elsewhere — on the physical board, on a notepad, or just resting. BUILT FOR REAL STUDY SESSIONS, NOT JUST DEMOS The interface is responsive and works the same whether you're using it in a small window or a full browser tab. Your last-viewed position and board orientation in every database are saved automatically. The Recents list means you're never hunting for a course file you opened last week. WHO IT'S FOR Anyone working through PGN chess courses, opening repertoires, correspondence games, or annotated collections — whether that's a structured video course that ships with a companion PGN file, a database of classical games with instructive commentary, or your own analysis notes saved as PGN. If you've ever wished you could listen to your chess study material the way you'd listen to a podcast — or actually quiz yourself on a repertoire instead of just rereading it — this is built for exactly that. Free to use. No account required. Your games, comments, and analysis never leave your device.