I’m looking for an easy app to record my over-the-board chess games and review them afterward. I’ve tried taking notes manually, but I often miss moves and struggle to analyze key mistakes. Which apps are accurate, tournament-friendly, and useful for post-game analysis?
The easiest recording app is usually the least tournament-friendly: a phone. In most rated events, you cannot have a normal phone or tablet out during play, even if you only intend to enter moves. Use the supplied paper scoresheet unless the tournament director has specifically approved a dedicated electronic scoresheet. If you want electronic notation during rated games, ChessNoteR is a legitimate option, but confirm permission before the event. Approval of the device does not mean every organizer must allow it.
For post-game review, Lichess is probably the best free setup. Enter or import the game as a PGN, save it in a Study, and add comments and variations. I would replay the game without the engine first and mark where you felt uncertain. Then run computer analysis and compare it with your own ideas. That tends to be more useful than simply clicking through a list of inaccuracies.
Chess.com Game Review is easier if you want short explanations instead of raw engine lines. It is beginner-friendly, though some review features and deeper analysis may depend on your membership. On Android, Chess PGN Master is worth considering if you want offline PGN storage, annotations, engine analysis, and support for several electronic boards. Its interface is more functional than polished.
If missing moves is the main problem, no analysis app can reliably repair a broken score afterward. Compare scoresheets with your opponent immediately after the game and reconstruct any gaps while the position is still fresh. A scoresheet-scanning app can speed up PGN entry, but handwritten notation recognition is imperfect, especially with corrections or cramped writing. For casual club games, a compatible electronic board can record the moves automatically. For rated tournaments, paper or an approved dedicated notation device remains the safer choice.
PGN export matters more than the app’s built-in engine. Pick whichever input screen feels fastest, but avoid anything that traps your games in its own account since you’ll eventually want to move them between Lichess, Chess.com, or desktop analysis software.
Don’t use a phone as a scoresheet in a rated event unless the tournament director explicitly approves it. For casual games, Chess Score Pad is a simple option, while Lichess Study or Chess.com Analysis works well for entering and reviewing moves afterward. @0xphoenix6 is right about PGN, but quick move correction matters too. Camera and handwriting-scanner apps can save time, though you should expect to fix missed captures, castling, or messy notation.
Track the clock, not just the moves.
A clean PGN tells you where the position went wrong, but it often does not explain why. If you had 35 minutes and blundered, that is a calculation problem. If you had 40 seconds, it may be a time-management problem. Whichever recording method you choose, note your remaining time every five moves or after a long think. You can add those times as comments when entering the game later.
For casual games, Chess Score Pad is fine if you want quick move entry. For tournament games, use the required scoresheet or an approved notation device. Trying to operate a feature-heavy analysis app during play is usually slower and creates more correction problems when you tap the wrong square. The best recording screen is boring: large board, obvious takeback or correction control, PGN export, and no menus to fight with.
After the game, I would use a two-stage workflow:
- Reconstruct the PGN immediately, preferably while the opponent is still around.
- Add clock times and short comments such as “expected…Nf6” or “couldn’t decide between two captures.”
- Review without an engine and mark two or three positions where your calculation became unclear.
- Run Stockfish afterward in Lichess Study, Chess.com, Chess PGN Master, ChessX, or another PGN-compatible program.
- Save one corrected variation for each important mistake instead of filling the game with ten engine lines.
For long-term storage, ChessX is worth considering on a computer. It is less convenient than a phone for entering a game at the venue, but it is better suited to keeping a searchable collection. Use consistent tags for event, round, color, opening, and time control. After fifty games, being able to find all your losses in a certain opening is more useful than another automated “accuracy” score.
I agree with @cyberwizard3792studi that PGN export should be a requirement. I would go further and test the export before committing to an app. Record a short game containing castling, promotion, an en passant capture, comments, and a variation. Export it, import it somewhere else, and check what survived. Some apps technically export PGN but drop annotations or make file handling unnecessarily awkward.
No app will completely fix skipped moves on a paper scoresheet. The practical fallback is to mark the uncertain section, photograph the final position only when phones are permitted again, and reconstruct the game before leaving. The final position, both scoresheets, and your memory together are much more reliable than trying to guess the missing sequence several days later.
The missing piece is preserving what you were thinking, because the PGN only preserves the moves. I would not spend much time hunting for one app that records, analyzes, organizes, and explains everything.
During a rated game, use paper or an approved device. As soon as the game ends and phones are allowed again, take a clear photo of both scoresheets if your opponent agrees. Then make a short voice memo: “I was unsure after 18…Nf6,” “I missed the backward move,” or “I had three minutes left here.” This takes less time than typing comments and captures details you will forget by the time you get home.
Next, enter the game into Lichess Study or Chess.com and add those notes before turning on the engine. Fix any notation gaps while the position is still familiar. After that, run the analysis and concentrate on the positions from your voice memo rather than every small evaluation change.
@cyberwizard3792studi is right about PGN export. The simplest setup is often separate tools: paper or a dedicated scoresheet for legal recording, your phone’s basic camera and voice recorder for immediate backup, then Lichess or Chess.com for review. That is less elegant than an all-in-one app, but it is harder to lose the game or forget why you made the moves.
Half the advice here assumes your scoresheet is clean, and for most club players it isn’t.
Everyone’s jumping straight to review tools, but the weak link is usually your own notation under time pressure. If you write your moves like a doctor, no app is going to save you later. Honestly the cheapest upgrade you can make is just writing legibly and updating your move count in the margin every ten moves, so when you drop a move you can spot the gap instantly instead of guessing. That fixes more problems than any scanner.
On the electronic side, I’d temper the ChessNoteR enthusiasm a little. It’s fine and it does get approved, but it’s a real cost for something that just replaces a piece of paper, and you’re now babysitting battery life mid-tournament. If you’re not playing rated events constantly, paper plus a phone photo at the end does the same job for free. @kevin2000’s point about tracking the clock is the actual sleeper tip in this thread though. Knowing you had two minutes versus twenty when you blundered changes the entire lesson, and almost nobody bothers to write it down.
The voice memo idea from @0xcoder2 is smart but I’d say it’s more than most people will keep up. If recording your own voice after every loss feels like a chore, you’ll quit after three games. A quick scribble on the scoresheet at the moves that felt shaky is lower effort and survives just as well. Whatever you use for review, Lichess Study is the safe default because the PGN comes out clean and you’re not locked into anything.
Try entering one old scoresheet into two apps before choosing. As a beginner, I found the confusing part wasn’t engine strength but how quickly I could correct a move entered on the wrong square, so easy editing and PGN export would be my priorities.