diff --git a/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Model/BasicPGNGame.swift b/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Model/BasicPGNGame.swift
index a5430e8a..683e9d83 100644
--- a/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Model/BasicPGNGame.swift
+++ b/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Model/BasicPGNGame.swift
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 //
 
 
-public struct BasicPGNGame {
+public struct BasicPGNGame: Equatable, Sendable {
     public var tags: [PGNTag: String]
     public var game: String
     
@@ -14,4 +14,51 @@ public struct BasicPGNGame {
         self.tags = tags
         self.game = game
     }
+
+    public subscript(_ tag: PGNTag) -> String? {
+        tags[tag]
+    }
+
+    public subscript(tagName tagName: String) -> String? {
+        tags[PGNTag(rawValue: tagName) ?? .custom(tagName)]
+    }
+
+    public var movetext: String {
+        game
+    }
+}
+
+extension BasicPGNGame: Codable {
+    private enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
+        case tags
+        case game
+    }
+
+    public init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
+        let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
+        let rawTags = try container.decode([String: String].self, forKey: .tags)
+
+        self.init(
+            tags: Dictionary(
+                rawTags.map { key, value in
+                    (PGNTag(rawValue: key) ?? .custom(key), value)
+                },
+                uniquingKeysWith: { _, newValue in newValue }
+            ),
+            game: try container.decode(String.self, forKey: .game)
+        )
+    }
+
+    public func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
+        var container = encoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
+        let rawTags = Dictionary(
+            tags.map { tag, value in
+                (tag.rawValue, value)
+            },
+            uniquingKeysWith: { _, newValue in newValue }
+        )
+
+        try container.encode(rawTags, forKey: .tags)
+        try container.encode(game, forKey: .game)
+    }
 }
diff --git a/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Parsers/BasicPGNParser.swift b/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Parsers/BasicPGNParser.swift
index 0bb1b2df..3a57fa5d 100644
--- a/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Parsers/BasicPGNParser.swift
+++ b/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Parsers/BasicPGNParser.swift
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@
 
 import Parsing
 
-struct BasicPGNParser: Parser {
-    var body: some Parser<Substring, [BasicPGNGame]> {
+public struct BasicPGNParser: Parser {
+    public init() {}
+
+    public var body: some Parser<Substring, [BasicPGNGame]> {
         Many {
             BasicPGNGameParser()
         } separator: {
@@ -17,4 +19,17 @@ struct BasicPGNParser: Parser {
             Whitespace()
         }
     }
+
+    public func parse(_ pgn: String) throws -> [BasicPGNGame] {
+        try parse(pgn[...])
+    }
+}
+
+/// Reads PGN documents into lightweight ``BasicPGNGame`` values.
+public struct BasicPGNReader {
+    public init() {}
+
+    public func parse(_ pgn: String) throws -> [BasicPGNGame] {
+        try BasicPGNParser().parse(pgn)
+    }
 }
diff --git a/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Parsers/TagParser.swift b/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Parsers/TagParser.swift
index deaa09ce..472a0acd 100644
--- a/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Parsers/TagParser.swift
+++ b/Sources/FischerCore/PGN/Parsers/TagParser.swift
@@ -6,20 +6,126 @@
 //
 
 import Parsing
+
 struct TagParser: Parser {
-    var body: some Parser<Substring, [PGNTag: String]> {
-        Many {
-            Parse {
-                "["
-                PrefixUpTo(" \"").compactMap{PGNTag(rawValue: String($0)) }
-                " \""
-                Prefix{ $0 != "\""}.map(String.init)
-                "\"]"
+    func parse(_ input: inout Substring) throws -> [PGNTag: String] {
+        var tags: [PGNTag: String] = [:]
+
+        while input.first == "[" {
+            let (tag, value) = try parseTag(&input)
+            tags[tag] = value
+
+            var nextTagInput = input
+            nextTagInput.consumeWhitespace()
+            guard nextTagInput.first == "[" else {
+                break
             }
-        } separator: {
-            Whitespace()
-        }.map { tags in
-            Dictionary(tags, uniquingKeysWith: { _, newValue in newValue })
+            input = nextTagInput
+        }
+
+        return tags
+    }
+
+    private func parseTag(_ input: inout Substring) throws -> (PGNTag, String) {
+        guard input.first == "[" else {
+            throw TagParserError.unterminatedTag
+        }
+        input.removeFirst()
+        input.consumeInlineWhitespace()
+
+        let rawName = input.consume { character in
+            character != "\"" && character != "]"
+        }
+        let name = rawName.trimmingInlineWhitespace()
+        guard !name.isEmpty else {
+            throw TagParserError.unterminatedTag
+        }
+
+        guard input.first == "\"" else {
+            throw TagParserError.unterminatedTag
+        }
+        input.removeFirst()
+
+        let value = try parseTagValue(&input)
+
+        input.consumeInlineWhitespace()
+        guard input.first == "]" else {
+            throw TagParserError.unterminatedTag
+        }
+        input.removeFirst()
+
+        return (PGNTag(rawValue: name) ?? .custom(name), value)
+    }
+
+    private func parseTagValue(_ input: inout Substring) throws -> String {
+        var value = ""
+        var escaped = false
+
+        while let character = input.first {
+            input.removeFirst()
+
+            if escaped {
+                if character == "\"" || character == "\\" {
+                    value.append(character)
+                } else {
+                    value.append("\\")
+                    value.append(character)
+                }
+                escaped = false
+                continue
+            }
+
+            if character == "\\" {
+                escaped = true
+                continue
+            }
+
+            if character == "\"" {
+                return value
+            }
+
+            if character == "\n" {
+                throw TagParserError.unterminatedTag
+            }
+
+            value.append(character)
+        }
+
+        throw TagParserError.unterminatedTag
+    }
+}
+
+private enum TagParserError: Error, Equatable {
+    case unterminatedTag
+}
+
+private extension Substring {
+    mutating func consume(while shouldConsume: (Character) -> Bool) -> Substring {
+        let prefix = prefix(while: shouldConsume)
+        removeFirst(prefix.count)
+        return prefix
+    }
+
+    mutating func consumeInlineWhitespace() {
+        _ = consume { character in
+            character == " " || character == "\t"
+        }
+    }
+
+    mutating func consumeWhitespace() {
+        _ = consume { character in
+            character.isWhitespace
+        }
+    }
+
+    func trimmingInlineWhitespace() -> String {
+        var substring = self
+        while substring.first == " " || substring.first == "\t" {
+            substring.removeFirst()
+        }
+        while substring.last == " " || substring.last == "\t" {
+            substring.removeLast()
         }
+        return String(substring)
     }
 }
diff --git a/Tests/FischerCoreTests/PGN/BasicPGNPublicAPITests.swift b/Tests/FischerCoreTests/PGN/BasicPGNPublicAPITests.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7ae76cde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/FischerCoreTests/PGN/BasicPGNPublicAPITests.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+import Foundation
+import FischerCore
+import Testing
+
+final class BasicPGNPublicAPITests {
+    @Test("Basic PGN reader preserves custom tags and escaped values")
+    func basicReaderPreservesCustomTagsAndEscapedValues() throws {
+        let input = #"""
+        [Event "Rated Bullet game"]
+        [Site "https://lichess.org/QYJK65fM"]
+        [Rated "true"]
+        [Perf "bullet"]
+        [Speed "bullet"]
+        [GameUrl "https://lichess.org/QYJK65fM"]
+        [Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/140609505268"]
+        [Escaped "escaped \"quote\" and \\ slash"]
+        [Result "1-0"]
+
+        1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 1-0
+        """#
+
+        let games = try BasicPGNReader().parse(input)
+        let game = try #require(games.first)
+
+        #expect(games.count == 1)
+        #expect(game[.event] == "Rated Bullet game")
+        #expect(game[.custom("Rated")] == "true")
+        #expect(game[tagName: "Perf"] == "bullet")
+        #expect(game[tagName: "Speed"] == "bullet")
+        #expect(game[tagName: "GameUrl"] == "https://lichess.org/QYJK65fM")
+        #expect(game[.link] == "https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/140609505268")
+        #expect(game[tagName: "Escaped"] == #"escaped "quote" and \ slash"#)
+        #expect(game.movetext.contains("1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 1-0"))
+    }
+
+    @Test("Basic PGN parser is public without testable import")
+    func basicParserIsPublicWithoutTestableImport() throws {
+        let input = """
+        [Event "Game One"]
+        [Result "*"]
+
+        1. e4 e5 *
+
+        [Event "Game Two"]
+        [Result "0-1"]
+
+        1. d4 d5 0-1
+        """
+
+        let games = try BasicPGNParser().parse(input)
+
+        #expect(games.count == 2)
+        #expect(games[0][.event] == "Game One")
+        #expect(games[0].game.contains("1. e4 e5 *"))
+        #expect(games[1][.event] == "Game Two")
+        #expect(games[1].game.contains("1. d4 d5 0-1"))
+    }
+
+    @Test("Basic PGN game is equatable and codable")
+    func basicGameIsEquatableAndCodable() throws {
+        let game = BasicPGNGame(
+            tags: [
+                .event: "Codable Game",
+                .custom("GameUrl"): "https://lichess.org/abcdef"
+            ],
+            game: "\n\n1. c4 e5 *"
+        )
+
+        let encoded = try JSONEncoder().encode(game)
+        let decoded = try JSONDecoder().decode(BasicPGNGame.self, from: encoded)
+
+        #expect(decoded == game)
+        #expect(decoded[tagName: "GameUrl"] == "https://lichess.org/abcdef")
+    }
+}