Open source · Apache License 2.0

chessmen

The chessboard for the web. Replay games, show positions: one script tag, zero dependencies. Paste a PGN and it replays the game, with arrows, side variations, 20 board colours and two Staunton piece sets.

PGN replayFEN diagramsArrows & circles Variations20 board colours12 piece colours SVG, crisp at any sizeKeyboard & screen readers

Try it live View on GitHub Install

Install

Two lines and a PGN

Board, styles and the default pieces come in one file. Pin the version so your page never changes underneath you.

<div id="board"></div>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/slate-chess/chessmen@v0.5.0/dist/chessmen.all.js"></script>
<script>
  Chessmen.create(document.getElementById("board"), {
    games: "1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7"
  });
</script>

Download dist/ from the latest release and serve it with your site. Keep LICENSE and NOTICE next to it.

<script src="/chessmen/dist/chessmen.all.js"></script>
<!-- optional second piece set -->
<script src="/chessmen/dist/pieces/modern-staunton.js"></script>

Install from GitHub, pinned to a release:

npm install github:slate-chess/chessmen#v0.5.0

import { create } from "chessmen/dist/chessmen.mjs";
import "chessmen/dist/pieces/classic-staunton.js";
import "chessmen/dist/chessmen.css";

create(document.getElementById("board"), { games: pgn });

Playground

Change a setting, copy the code

Every option updates the board and the code below it. When it looks right, copy the snippet into your page.

Game

Board colours:

Pieces

Piece colours

Bottom side

Coordinates

Last move

Speed (ms per move)

Your code

Recipes

Copy, paste, change

Each example is editable. Change the code and press Run to see the result, then copy it. Inside each example, el is the board's element.

Reference

Options at a glance

Pass these to Chessmen.create(element, options). Full reference, methods and events: README · for AI assistants: llms.txt.

Option	Default	What it does
`games`	—	PGN text (one or more games), a FEN, or an array of either
`fen`	—	Show one position, e.g. a diagram or a puzzle start
`game`	`0`	Which game to show first
`scheme`	`"mahogany"`	Board colours: one of 20, or `{ light, dark }`
`pieces`	`"classic-staunton"`	Piece set: `classic-staunton` or `modern-staunton`
`pieceColours`	`"original"`	One of 12 pairings; `amberSky` for dark boards
`orientation`	`"white"`	Side at the bottom
`autoplay`	`true`	Play through the moves (off under reduced motion)
`interval` / `endPause`	`1100` / `3000`	Milliseconds per move / to hold the final position
`loop`	`true`	Go on to the next game when one ends
`controls` / `picker` / `meta`	`true`	Buttons, the game menu, players and move counter
`appearance`	`false`	Menus that let visitors change colours and pieces
`remember`	off	A storage key that keeps a visitor's choices
`theme`	—	`coordinates`, `lastMove`, `frame`, `moveDuration`

License

Apache License 2.0

Copyright 2026 Linu Alex. Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not use this software except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0. Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.

Section	Term
2. Copyright license	Perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free right to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of, publicly display, sublicense and distribute the Work, in personal and commercial use
3. Patent license	Granted for each contributor's contributions; terminates for anyone who brings patent litigation over the Work
4(a) Redistribution	Give recipients a copy of the License
4(b) Modifications	Modified files must carry prominent notices that you changed them
4(c) Notices	Retain all copyright, patent, trademark and attribution notices
4(d) Attribution	Include the attribution notices from the NOTICE file with any distribution: in a NOTICE file, the source or documentation, or the product's credits display
6. Trademarks	No rights to the names “Slate Chess” or “chessmen”, except for reasonable and customary use in describing the origin of the Work and reproducing the NOTICE file
7–8. Warranty and liability	Provided “AS IS”, without warranties; no liability for damages

Attribution notice (NOTICE)

Reproduce this with any distribution of chessmen or a work derived from it (Section 4(d)).

chessmen
Copyright 2026 Linu Alex
Created by Linu Alex for Slate Chess (https://slatechess.com).

Full texts: LICENSE · NOTICE · third-party notices (chess.js BSD 2-Clause, piece sets BSD 3-Clause and the Unlicense).