PGN means Portable Game Notation
PGN is a plain-text way to record a chess game. It usually includes headers such as the players, event, site, date, result, and then the move list in algebraic notation.
Because it is text, a PGN can be copied from a game site, saved as a .pgn file, pasted into a creator, or shared without needing a screenshot of the board.
A PGN carries the whole game
A screenshot shows one board state. A PGN carries the route that produced it: the opening, the exchanges, the sacrifice, the quiet move, the final mistake, and the result.
That full record is why PGN works for Endgame. The Position can use a decisive board, The Trace can draw the path of the pieces, The Score can preserve the notation, and The Sequence can show the arc of the game across moments.
PGN, game links, and FEN are not the same thing
A public Lichess or Chess.com link can be convenient when it is readable and supported. PGN is the portable fallback when a link is private, deleted, or hard to import.
FEN is different: it describes one position, not the full move history. It can be useful in chess, but Endgame’s strongest full-game workflow starts from a PGN or supported game link.
How Endgame uses PGN
Endgame replays the move record and renders art from deterministic chess data. It does not invent missing moves, fake tournament context, or ask AI to reconstruct a game from a board image.
Before ordering, check that the copied PGN is complete, belongs to the right game, and has the result you expect. Extra comments or engine lines are less important than a valid move list.