gitwtfhub

wtf is chess-pgn-downloader?

ivbera/chess-pgn-downloader — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

1HTMLAudience · generalComplexity · 1/5LicenseSetup · easy

TL;DR

A browser tool that downloads a Chess.com player's game history as monthly or combined PGN files, no install or login needed.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((PGN Downloader))
    What it does
      Downloads Chess.com archives
      Monthly and combined PGN
      ZIP export
    Tech stack
      HTML
      Chess.com public API
    Use cases
      Backup own games
      Study a players history
      Export combined archive
    Audience
      Chess players
      General users

Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Back up your own Chess.com game history to your computer as PGN files.

REASON 2

Download a specific player's public games for a chosen month range to study in a chess analysis tool.

REASON 3

Export a combined PGN archive of many months of games in one ZIP file.

What's in the stack?

HTMLChess.com Public API

How it stacks up

ivbera/chess-pgn-downloaderabhishek-kumar09/mern-live-js-june-2021abhishek-kumar09/z
Stars111
LanguageHTMLHTMLHTML
Last pushed2021-09-132019-12-23
MaintenanceDormantDormant
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity1/52/51/5
Audiencegeneraldevelopergeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Just open it in a browser, there is nothing to install and no account required.

No license is stated, so it is unclear what rights are granted to reuse or modify this code.

Wtf does this do

This is a small browser based tool for downloading your Chess.com game history. Chess.com stores every game you have played in monthly archives, and this tool lets you pull those archives down as PGN files, which is the standard text format used to record chess games so they can be opened in other chess software or analysis tools. To use it, you type in a Chess.com username, pick a range of months you want, and click Search archives. The tool then checks which monthly archives actually exist for that account and shows them to you before you download anything. Once you review the list, you click Download PGNs and it fetches the games. You can get one PGN file per month, or one combined file that merges every month together, and everything can be exported as a ZIP. The whole thing runs inside your web browser. There is nothing to install and no account login needed, either for the tool itself or for Chess.com. It talks directly to Chess.com's public API to fetch the archives, so no usernames or game files ever pass through a separate server. This makes it simple to use for anyone who just wants a quick way to back up or export their own public game history, or someone else's, without setting up any software. To use this tool you need a modern web browser, an internet connection, and a public Chess.com profile to pull data from. The README does not describe any installation steps beyond opening it in a browser, and it does not mention a license, so it is unclear what usage rights, if any, are granted for reusing the code.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Explain what a PGN file is and why someone would want to download their Chess.com games as one.
Prompt 2
Walk me through using this tool to download all of a specific username's games from the last six months.
Prompt 3
How does this tool talk to Chess.com's public API without needing a login or server?
Prompt 4
Help me understand what it means that this project has no stated license.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is chess-pgn-downloader?

A browser tool that downloads a Chess.com player's game history as monthly or combined PGN files, no install or login needed.

What language is chess-pgn-downloader written in?

Mainly HTML. The stack also includes HTML, Chess.com Public API.

What license does chess-pgn-downloader use?

No license is stated, so it is unclear what rights are granted to reuse or modify this code.

How hard is chess-pgn-downloader to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is chess-pgn-downloader for?

Mainly general.

View the repo → Decode another repo

This repo across BitVibe Labs

Don't trust strangers blindly. Verify against the repo.