ChessZCam features · October 2026 trial builds
ChessZCam puts an ordinary Android phone at the board, with two optional Windows companions: ChessZCam Studio for big-screen review and rendering, and ChessZCam Live for vMix and OBS broadcasts. It takes over the repetitive work — and flags anything uncertain for a person to check, instead of guessing.
Who benefits
Three common problems, and three practical ways ChessZCam tries to help — when conditions allow.
CREATORS
The problem: viewers want a clean digital board, and creators often rewind video move by move late into the night.
How ChessZCam helps: film with Record Game Video, then let Analyze Video read the moves, flag the unclear ones and export a checked PGN — or an overlay video up to 4K. Already have the PGN? Sync PGN to Video (Android app; not in the first Studio release) times it to your footage.
Creator workflow notes →
ORGANIZERS
The problem: many club and school events cannot afford electronic boards for every table, so featured boards often go unbroadcast.
How ChessZCam helps: Broadcast Live sends the phone's board state to ChessZCam Live on a PC, which feeds a Browser Source in vMix or OBS — with a correction screen for when something goes wrong mid-round.
Budget livestream checklist →
PARENTS & COACHES
The problem: parents and coaches often cannot stand over the boards, and waiting areas leave them guessing.
How ChessZCam helps: Viewer Mode, now in trial builds, shows the live digital board on a parent's or coach's own Android phone outside the hall, on the same Wi-Fi or hotspot. After the round there is the reviewed PGN and overlay video.
Parent viewing guide →Android app · one Home screen
Pick the operation that matches the job. If you followed the earlier beta: Record, Archive, Upload and Live vMix have grown into these six — the old names are shown on each card.
Film the whole game with audio now, and analyse it later.
Earlier beta name: Archive
Open any MP4 or WebM and let ChessZCam read every move.
Earlier beta name: Upload
Live camera straight to PGN while the game is played.
Earlier beta name: Record
Board state — not video — over the local network to the PC.
Earlier beta name: Live vMix
Already have the PGN? Match it to a recording of the same game.
New in September 2026
Continue a saved review with its corrections, analysis and overlay layout.
New in September 2026
Real screens · September 2026 build
Detection is only the start. Review, analyse, render and broadcast — on the phone, on a Windows PC, or live on air. Pick a tool; click a screenshot to enlarge it.
The move list, the exact video frame and the board after the move, side by side — with first-seen, landed and confirmed times. You stay in control of what the final game says.
Optional offline analysis at Balanced or Deep depth, explained in plain language — useful for coaching and commentary, never an official result.
Drag and resize each HUD panel over your footage, choose the format, and pick where the video ends.
Rendered by ChessZCam itself: player bars, eval bar, move verdicts, an engine panel with eval graph and principal variation, and captured material.
More finishes on the ChessZCam page.
Studio brings the phone workflow to a Windows PC, with more inputs and more speed. A PC adds resources, not concepts: anything a phone can do alone stays possible with a phone alone.
CHESSZCAM LIVE · VMIX & OBS
A Tally-style operator screen with a status strip for hub, phone, detector, overlay and on-air look — and one main button that never moves.
ChessZCam Live · for vMix & OBS · Windows
The console is the calm centre of a live production: it receives the phone's board state, lets the operator correct it when needed, and feeds a clean overlay into vMix or OBS.
Point vMix or OBS, running on the same PC, at the console's Browser Source. Your stream audience sees a readable digital board beside your camera picture — and you keep the PGN afterwards.
Hands over the board, a bumped tripod or an uncertain read should not end the stream. Hold keeps tracking underneath; the correction screen shows exactly which squares differ, suggests a legal sequence, and can ask the phone for a fresh camera look.
An eval bar, move verdicts and “Move in focus” for commentary — never an official game result. The arbiter decides what happened at the board.
Phone and PC still pair with a code, and the console and the vMix or OBS overlay stay reachable only from the PC running them. Spectators now get a separate read-only Viewer Mode link on the same network: they scan the Viewer QR in the ChessZCam Android app and follow the board outside the hall. The operator can switch it off or replace it at any time.
Before a live event: read the setup guide → · compatibility notes → · when the camera misses a move →
Made with ChessZCam Studio
An honest note. Human intervention in these videos was kept to a minimum so they show ChessZCam's current abilities and limitations as they are. Almost every move was read correctly, but detection accuracy depends heavily on the quality of the source video — if you spot a mistake, please tell us.
Why this matters
What each part does, what the operator controls, and which conditions affect the result.
Less grind rebuilding games from video — so more time goes to teaching, storytelling and coaching.
A phone, a PC with ChessZCam Live and vMix or OBS can cover one important board when a full electronic-board install is not realistic.
The operator can hold, correct and resume. Nothing reaches the overlay until they push it.
A featured-board stream or Viewer Mode lets families follow a game from outside the hall, without hovering over children. Viewer Mode is in trial builds, on the same Wi-Fi or hotspot.
Film with Record Game Video, then use Analyze Video when you have quieter time to review — on the phone or in Studio.
Results vary with lighting, framing, board contrast and device performance. Important games should still be checked by a person.
Current operating conditions
Lighting, framing, board contrast, hands over pieces, phone heat and venue Wi-Fi can all affect results. ChessZCam is an assistive tool that is still being built and tested at real tournaments by one independent developer. It is not an arbiter, not a fair-play or dispute system, and not a drop-in replacement for a professional electronic-board installation.
Early trial
Join the waitlist now. Trial invitations go to the waitlist first, and members get 50% off their first ChessZCam package when sales open (packages). Joining is free and is not an order.
