A tournament stream on YouTube
Put the digital board, the names and a verdict for each move over your camera picture at a school or club event.
Honest limit: The streaming itself is done by vMix or OBS, not by ChessZCam.
ChessZCam · Viewer Mode
New · in trial buildsFollow the game live — from outside the hall.
Parents, coaches and spectators outside the playing hall follow the live digital board on their own Android phone, while ChessZCam's camera phone follows the real board.
How it works
How ChessZCam Viewer Mode works
Viewer Mode sends confirmed moves, not video, to a phone on the same Wi‑Fi or hotspot. Pick the set-up you use.
Same Wi‑Fi, hotspot or local network only. Not from home, not over the internet or mobile data. Viewers need the ChessZCam Android app: no iPhone, no web browser.
- Scan to join Open the ChessZCam app on your Android phone and scan the Viewer QR on the camera phone.
- A piece moves A player makes a move on the real board inside the playing hall.
- The camera phone sees it The phone on the stand detects the move and confirms it.
- The move travels A tiny move message, never video, crosses the shared Wi‑Fi to you outside the hall.
- Your board updates Your phone redraws the digital board and grades the move with its own Stockfish.
Same Wi‑Fi, hotspot or local network only. Not from home, not over the internet or mobile data. Viewers need the ChessZCam Android app: no iPhone, no web browser.
- Scan to join Each viewer opens the ChessZCam app and scans the Viewer QR shown by ChessZCam Live on the PC.
- A piece moves A player makes a move on the real board inside the playing hall.
- Phone to PC The camera phone detects the move and sends it over the local network to the Windows PC.
- Overlay for the broadcast ChessZCam Live updates a transparent overlay in vMix or OBS on the same PC.
- Viewer phones update The same move reaches viewer phones outside the hall, read-only, with the PC's analysis.
On the viewer's phone
What a viewer sees.
The digital board, the players' names, a verdict for each move, the full move list and a clear status line. For parents in the waiting area, coaches outside the hall where the organiser allows it, and organisers who want families away from the doorway.
Swipe or scroll sideways for more → Tap or click a capture to enlarge it. All six are demo captures of the real interface on an emulated phone screen, with demo data.
Setting up
Set it up, step by step.
Both ways need the ChessZCam Android app on every phone and one shared Wi-Fi or hotspot. App labels are still changing, so the steps say what to do.
Two phones
- Join one network. Put the camera phone and the viewer's phone on the same Wi-Fi or hotspot, with the same ChessZCam version on both.
- Aim and lock the board. On the camera phone, open the live move-detection screen, line up the board and lock it.
- Start sharing first. Start viewer sharing before you start detection. The camera phone shows a Viewer QR; names and a board label are optional.
- Scan it on the viewer's phone. Outside the hall, open Viewer Mode in the ChessZCam app and use Scan QR, or Paste link and then Watch game.
- Start detection and play. The viewer's phone follows each confirmed move and adds its own Stockfish analysis. Stop sharing when the game is over.
With a PC
- Join one network. Put the PC, the camera phone and the viewer phones on the same local network. Allow ChessZCam Live through Windows Firewall from its Setup screen.
- Pair the camera phone. Open its broadcast-to-PC screen and pair with the code or QR on the PC. Check that the PC's board follows the real one.
- Open the Viewer QR. It is on the PC's Setup screen, separate from the pairing code, and read-only.
- Viewers scan it. Outside the hall, each viewer opens Viewer Mode in the ChessZCam app and uses Scan QR, or Paste link and then Watch game.
- Run the broadcast as usual. vMix or OBS keeps showing the overlay. Viewers see the PC's analysis and can hide it on their own phone. Viewer access can be turned off at any time.
Before you go to the hall
- The same app version on every phone. Install it at home, not at the door.
- A small router or a phone hotspot. Some venue Wi-Fi blocks phones from seeing each other.
- Power for the camera phone. It keeps the detection screen open for the whole game.
- A steady stand. One that will not be nudged, with the whole board in view.
- Ask the organiser first. Viewer Mode shows engine analysis; using it is their decision.
Camera position, lighting and network advice are in the setup guide.
ChessZCam Live · for vMix or OBS
New: Viewer QROne PC: a broadcast and a viewing corner.
ChessZCam Live is a Windows app. It takes small game data, not video, from the camera phone, draws the overlay for vMix or OBS and now shows a separate read-only Viewer QR.
THE OPERATOR'S SCREEN
One operator, three screens.
Live, Overlay and Setup. The operator watches the detected board, the move list and the engine line, and decides what the overlay shows.
- Hold & correct. When detection goes wrong, hold the overlay and fix the position. Afterwards, rely on the phone's own game record: the PC's move list may be incomplete.
- Lower-third cards. Players, event, round, venue and a free line, cued by hand or automatically.
- A verdict lane. A short plain-language note for each move in English, Malay or Chinese, with opening names and check and checkmate marks.
- A Viewer QR. Separate from the pairing code, read-only, with its own on and off switch.
Overlay styles
Swipe or scroll sideways for more → Demo captures of the real overlay output with a demo game, composited on a dark background; in vMix or OBS the overlay sits over your camera. A designer lets you arrange the panels.
What this could do at your event
A top-board broadcast
Follow the board everyone wants to see, move by move, with the engine's view beside it.
Honest limit: One board per PC, and it needs an operator.
The hall TV or projector
Send the vMix or OBS output to a big screen so the room can follow the top board.
Honest limit: There is no dedicated projector mode. The organiser decides whether engine evaluation is shown in the hall; it can be switched off.
A commentary desk
The verdict lane, the opening name and the engine panel give a commentator something to talk from.
Honest limit: There is no chess clock data.
A parents' viewing corner
Put the Viewer QR on a table outside the hall and let parents follow on their own phones.
Honest limit: Same local network and Android app only; several viewers at once is not yet proven.
A coach in another room
A coach follows a pupil's game on the Viewer screen without standing over the board.
Honest limit: Only where the organiser allows it, and never to pass analysis to a player.
Fair play & limits
Fair play, privacy and honest limits.
Fair play. Viewer Mode shows engine analysis. It is meant for spectators outside the playing hall — never for players, and never as an arbiter's record. Whether it may be used at an event is the organiser's decision.
WHAT IS SHARED
- Confirmed moves and the position. That is what draws the digital board.
- Names and a board label, if you want. Optional text typed by the operator.
- No camera video, and no operator notes.
- Read-only. Viewers cannot change the board, the camera, the detection or the broadcast.
LIMITS TODAY
- Same Wi-Fi or hotspot only. Not from home, not over mobile data. Some venue Wi-Fi blocks phones from seeing each other; a small router or a phone hotspot solves that.
- Android app only, for now. No iPhone, no web browser.
- One board per link. One camera phone follows one board; with the PC, one board per PC.
- Phone held sideways, app kept open. That is the viewer's phone. The camera phone must keep its detection screen open too; a phone call pauses it.
- It follows the detector. If detection is paused, late or wrong, viewers see that. It is not an official record or an arbiter's tool.
In trial builds (Phone app 1.18 · Studio 0.23 · Live 1.8): tested on real phones in both set-ups, and it runs smoothly. It has not yet been used through a full tournament day. Watching from further away is only an idea for later; there is no promise and no date.
Frequently asked
Viewer Mode questions, answered plainly.
Can I watch from home?
No. Viewer Mode works only on the same Wi-Fi or hotspot as the camera phone or the PC. It does not work from home, over the internet or over mobile data. Watching from further away is only an idea for later, with no promise.
Does it work on iPhone or in a browser?
Not for now. Viewers need the ChessZCam Android app. There is no iPhone app and no web-browser viewer.
Do I need a PC?
No. Two Android phones are enough: the camera phone shares the board straight to the viewer's phone. A Windows PC with ChessZCam Live is optional. It adds the broadcast overlay for vMix or OBS and its own Viewer QR.
Can players or coaches use it during a game?
Players, never. Viewer Mode shows engine analysis, so it is meant for spectators outside the playing hall. A coach may follow from outside the hall only if the organiser allows it, and must not pass anything on to a player. Whether it may be used at an event is the organiser's decision.
How many people can watch?
We do not quote a number, because it depends on the venue network and the phones. Viewer Mode has been tested on real phones in both set-ups. Several viewers at once is not yet proven.
What if the venue Wi-Fi blocks it?
Some venue Wi-Fi stops phones from seeing each other, and then Viewer Mode cannot connect. Bring a small router or use a phone hotspot, and put the camera phone, the viewer phones and the PC, if you use one, on that network.
Does it work with vMix and OBS?
Yes, both. The ChessZCam Live overlay is a standard browser source, and we have used it in vMix and in OBS. vMix or OBS must run on the same PC as ChessZCam Live. The overlay is separate from Viewer Mode: the overlay is for your stream or recording, the Viewer QR is for phones nearby.
What will it cost and when can I try it?
Neither is decided yet. Waitlist members get the early trial first and will be offered an early-supporter discount on ChessZCam when sales open. The amount is not decided. Joining is free and is not an order.
Waitlist: first access + discount
Be among the first to use it.
Join the waitlist now. Waitlist members get the early trial first and will be offered an early-supporter discount on ChessZCam when sales open. The amount is not decided yet. Joining is free and is not an order.