Board Editor & FEN Viewer
Set up any position on the board by placing pieces manually, or paste a FEN string to display it instantly. You can also paste PGN notation to step through an entire game move by move. Share any position via a URL that encodes the position directly.
Professor Archer says: I use a board editor every day. When I am reading a chess book and the author describes a position, I set it up on the board to see it clearly. When a student asks me about a position from their game, they share a FEN and I can see exactly what they are talking about. This tool makes that effortless.
Features
- Drag-and-drop piece placement
- FEN string input and output
- PGN import with move-by-move navigation
- Share positions via URL
- Clear board, reset to starting position
Reading a FEN String, Field by Field
A FEN string packs a whole position into one line of six fields. Take the position after 1. e4: rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq e3 0 1. The first field describes the board rank by rank from Black's side down: lowercase letters are Black pieces, uppercase are White, and digits count consecutive empty squares, so "4P3" means four empty squares, a white pawn, then three more empties.
The remaining fields: whose move it is (b means Black), castling rights for both sides (KQkq means everyone can still castle both ways), the en passant target square if any (e3 here, because a pawn just double-stepped past it), the halfmove clock used for the fifty-move rule, and the move number. Once you can read those six fields, every chess program on earth speaks your language.
What a Board Editor Is Actually For
Reading a book or watching a video and the position on page 120 makes no sense? Set it up here and turn it around. Arguing with a friend about whether a position was winning? Rebuild it, share the URL, and settle it. Composing a puzzle for your chess club, checking whether an endgame is a known draw, or extracting a critical moment from one of your games to study later: all of it starts with putting pieces on squares.
The editor also validates as you go, which quietly teaches the rules of position legality: two kings, no pawns on the first or eighth rank, and the side not on move cannot be standing in check.
From PGN Game to Any Position in It
Paste a full PGN game record and the editor becomes a replayer: step forward and backward through the moves and stop anywhere. From that spot you can copy the FEN, share the URL, or start editing the position to explore something the game did not play.
This is the workflow behind serious game review: find the critical moment, freeze it, and study the position on its own terms instead of skimming past it inside the full game. If notation itself is the obstacle, our guides to chess notation and algebraic notation get you fluent quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is FEN notation?
FEN (Forsyth-Edwards Notation) is a standard way to describe a chess position in a single line of text. It records the position of every piece, whose turn it is, castling rights, en passant target, and move counters. For example, the starting position is: rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1.
What is PGN notation?
PGN (Portable Game Notation) is the standard format for recording chess games. It includes game metadata (players, date, result) and the move list in algebraic notation. You can copy PGN from any chess platform and paste it here to replay the game move by move.
How do I share a position with someone?
After setting up a position, the tool generates a URL that contains the FEN string. Copy and share this URL - anyone who opens it will see exactly the same position on their board.
Can I set up an illegal position?
The editor flags positions that break the basic legality rules: both sides need exactly one king, pawns cannot stand on the first or eighth rank, and the side that is not moving cannot be in check. Catching these as you build saves confusion when you export the FEN to an engine or another site.