Opening an SGF File

The SGF file type is primarily associated with SmartGo.

SGF	File extension: SGF
	File type:	game

What is an SGF file?

SGF files mostly belong to SmartGo by SmartGo. An SGF file contains a record of a Go board game saved in Smart Game Format. It contains the markup of a Goban (the board for a Go game) and a record of moves made by each player in the game. The moves in an SGF file consist of one- or two-character values describing information such as the previous/current location of a stone on the board, player color, date, result etc. Programs like GNU Go and SmartGo can create and run an SGF file. Sigil e-book writer/reader uses a different type of SGF file to save an e-book.

How to open SGF files

You need a suitable software like SmartGo to open an SGF file. Without proper software you will receive a Windows message "How do you want to open this file?" or "Windows cannot open this file" or a similar Mac/iPhone/Android alert. If you cannot open your SGF file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a SGF file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online SGF Text Viewer

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Programs that open and convert SGF files:

SmartGo by SmartGo
See the previous paragraphs to learn more about the main application. SGF files are often referred to as SmartGo games because this type of file is primarily created or used by this software.
GNU Go (game) by Free Software Foundation
GNU Go is a cross-platform desktop application used to play and review Go games. SGF (Smart Game Format) is one of its supported formats for saving and importing go games. This file format is classified as Game. Related links: SGF File Format, Smart Game Format
Sigil (e-book) by Sigil Developers
Sigil is an open source e-book editor compatible with multiple platforms. SGF is its default file type for saving an e-book. Such an e-book is actually a ZIP archive containing multiple XHTML documents. This file format is classified as eBook.
Sonique (player skin) by Mediascience
Sonique is a discontinued audio player with a built in music search utility. A skin used to customize its theme (user interface) is saved in an SGF file. This file format is classified as Settings.
StarOffice (document) by Oracle
StarOffice (previously StarWriter) is a discontinued office productivity software suite featuring word processing, spreadsheet, and database management utilities. It saves a document in an SGF file. This file format is classified as Page Layout.

SGF file format:

Each file has a definite file format, that is, how the stored data is arranged in the file. The file format can be determined based on the file extension and the signature (the first few characters of a file). File extension, signature and file format must match; otherwise errors will occur when the file is opened. So a detailed analysis of a file is vital in order to determine the format and the associated program. Our evaluation of the SGF files is as follows:

As a file extension, SGF isn't very common and covers different formats for different programs. The following file formats are most commonly found in SGF files:

45% of all SGF files are Smart Game Format files. The content consists of readable text data, which can be read using a text editor. The files are on average 1 KB in size and range from 260 bytes to 5 KB. The file type was created 20 years ago but is still used today. Several words can almost always be found in the files, e.g. UTF-8. Files like these are sometimes connected to game and gokifu, and often consist of personal data.
30% of all SGF files start with the magic bytes DWC1, which are always the first bytes of this file format. They consist of unreadable binary data. A typical file size is 4 KB. Several words can almost always be found in the files, e.g. -- SAVE START -- and DWC1. Some examples of file names are Player.sgf. Such SGF files store data about person-related data.

All other SGF files (25%) have different formats, such as File. Files like these are sometimes linked to joseki. You can get all the details of your SGF file by dragging it onto this page or by clicking the button "Choose your .sgf file to analyze" above.

Technical Data for SGF File Extension

File classification:

Game

Related files:

sfg, dso, rpk, exe, txt, zip, rpyc, rpx, dsi, unity3d

Related links:

SGF File Format, Smart Game Format

Mime type:

application/octet-stream

The following listing is compiled from the database produced by the 'Associate This!' program, selected data from the main FILExt database and file extension information submitted by users.

ProgramID: Sonique.Skin, FileType: Sonique Skin, AppName: Sonique

ProgramID: ZipZag.sgf
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\ZipZag\zipzag.exe %1

ProgramID: Sonique.Skin
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\Sonique\Sonique.exe %1

ProgramID: SGFGoFile
EXEFile: E:\MANYFA~1.0\mfgo.exe /dde

ProgramID: BBSONG
EXEFile: %ProgramFiles%\BBW.EXE /Open

Show all 5 listings To Top

an sgf game is a special file format by SmartGo and should only be edited and saved with the appropriate software.

How to solve problems with SGF files

Associate the SGF file extension with the correct application.
Update your software that should actually open games. Because only the current version supports the latest SGF file format. Search, therefore, e.g. on the SmartGo manufacturer website after an available SmartGo update.
To make sure that your SGF file is not corrupted or virus-infected, get the file again and scan it with Google's virustotal.com.
Click here to open your .SGF file online - secure, fast, and no downloads needed.