diff --git a/.eslintrc.cjs b/.eslintrc.cjs
index f63bbef..7b85f4b 100644
--- a/.eslintrc.cjs
+++ b/.eslintrc.cjs
@@ -24,5 +24,6 @@ module.exports = {
     'react/require-default-props': 'off',
     'no-use-before-define': 'off',
     'react/jsx-filename-extension': [1, { extensions: ['.ts', '.tsx'] }],
+    'no-unused-vars': ['error', { argsIgnorePattern: 'api' }],
   },
 };
diff --git a/src/index.tsx b/src/index.tsx
index 317e5f6..4916cdf 100644
--- a/src/index.tsx
+++ b/src/index.tsx
@@ -8,11 +8,12 @@ interface Props {
   width?: number
   height?: number
   contained?: boolean;
-  config?: Config
+  config?: Config;
+  onApiReady?: (api: Api) => void;
 }
 
 function Chessground({
-  width = 900, height = 900, config = {}, contained = false,
+  width = 900, height = 900, config = {}, contained = false, onApiReady,
 }: Props) {
   const [api, setApi] = useState<Api | null>(null);
 
@@ -34,6 +35,12 @@ function Chessground({
     api?.set(config);
   }, [api, config]);
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (api && onApiReady) {
+      onApiReady(api);
+    }
+  }, [api]);
+
   return (
     <div style={{ height: contained ? '100%' : height, width: contained ? '100%' : width }}>
       <div ref={ref} style={{ height: '100%', width: '100%', display: 'table' }} />