niklasf/python-chess

Some data may be outdated — see provenance labels.

A chess library for Python, with move generation and validation, PGN parsing and writing, Polyglot opening book reading, Gaviota tablebase probing, Syzygy tablebase probing, and UCI/XBoard engine communication observed · 2026-09-23

github.com/niklasf/python-chess · homepage · Python · GPL-3.0 (copyleft) observed · 2026-09-23

Health v2 · maintenance only

64/100

Activity 91
Release rhythm 8
Longevity 100

How is this computed?

round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-10-21. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.

gap_med: n/a
age_days: 5131
days_rel: 602
days_push: 59
n_releases_24m: 1

Full methodology

Adoption not part of the score

2881 stars · 586 forks observed · 2026-09-23

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded

python-chess is a Python library for chess with move generation, move validation, and support for common formats like PGN, FEN, and EPD. It also provides Polyglot opening book reading, Syzygy/Gaviota tablebase probing, and UCI/XBoard engine communication.

Use cases

generate and validate legal chess moves in Python
parse and write PGN chess game files
communicate with UCI chess engines like Stockfish
probe Syzygy endgame tablebases
build a chess bot or analysis tool
render chess boards in Jupyter notebooks
work with chess variants like Chess960 and Atomic

When to choose

you need reliable chess rules and move generation in Python
you want to interface Python with UCI/XBoard chess engines
you need to parse or write PGN/FEN/EPD chess formats
you are building chess analysis, bot, or educational tools

When to avoid

you need a chess GUI or playable game interface
you need a high-performance engine in another language
you are working with non-chess board games

Facets

library · maturity stable

parser sdk developer-tools gaming-tools developer-tools python cross-platform chess pgn fen uci xboard tablebase syzygy polyglot game-logic engine-communication algorithms

2 sources

readme: https://github.com/niklasf/python-chess · fetched 2026-09-23 · ea9c20369684
registry_pypi: https://pypi.org/pypi/python-chess/json · fetched 2026-08-29 · 5247b29045a4

Member repositories

Repository	Role	Health v2
niklasf/python-chess	main	64

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="niklasf/python-chess")

Data as of 2026-10-19T08:05:51.212177+00:00 · Report a problem