Oct 2026 ChessZCam: Studio first, Android next, Live last. Free 14-day Studio trial · 50% waitlist discount when sales open. Join the waitlist →
zonChessPrestige · Character · Potential
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For OTB chess content creators

Film the game. Publish the story.

You love real boards, real clocks and real nerves at the table. ChessZCam turns that footage into a move list you check instead of type, Stockfish grades and a finished overlay video — so your evening goes into the story, not into rebuilding the game square by square.

Watch the workflow How to record well Baca dalam Bahasa Melayu →
Real screens · Studio 0.29 2 tournaments in October 2026 Free 14-day Studio trial
A landscape overlay frame and a portrait 1080×1920 frame rendered by ChessZCam from the same game; player names are invented

How it works · six steps

From the board to your channel.

Every scene below is a real ChessZCam screen or a real tournament photo. It plays by itself; click a step to jump to it.

Board → PGN → overlay → upload

Screens from the Studio 0.29.2 trial build of mid-October and photos from October 2026 tournaments. Faces are blurred.

  1. A ChessZCam camera phone on its stand at a tournament board, showing the setup check and “2 devices” connected; faces are blurred

    1Film the gameA phone or camera on a firm stand, 45°–90° down at the board, with all four corners in view. The setup check reads corners, board size, light, focus and stability before you start.Santai Catur SPS 2026 · 3 Oct 2026

  2. ChessZCam Analyze Video detecting pieces on a tournament board, each piece labelled with its type and confidence, 29.9 FPS

    2Detect the movesAnalyze Video reads every move from the recording on your own device, and keeps its time and video frame. Nothing is uploaded.Bundled demo clip · hands only

  3. ChessZCam Studio review screen: a 169-move game marked “Connected · one game”, the move list, the video frame of 13… d5 and the board after the move; players are blurred

    3Check only what is flaggedEach move sits beside its video frame. Confirm, replace or retime a move, connect a gap with legal moves and keep everything after it — until it reads “Connected · one game”.Studio 0.29.2 · a 169-move tournament game

  4. ChessZCam analysis of the 169-move game: result, accuracy 79.1% and 78.2%, and move grades from Book move to Blunder for each player

    4Add StockfishOptional engine analysis on the device: grades from Book move to Blunder, accuracy for each player and opening names.Same game · Balanced depth

  5. Two frames rendered by ChessZCam from one game: a landscape overlay and a portrait version for Shorts

    5Render the overlayMP4 with the overlay burned in, transparent WebM or PNG sequence — landscape 1920×1080 or portrait 1080×1920, up to 4K.ChessZCam renderer · names invented

  6. A phone in a shopping-mall tournament showing the live digital board, a “Best move” verdict, Stockfish and the move list; the players in the background are blurred

    6Go live or shareFor a live show, Broadcast sends the board to ChessZCam Live for vMix or OBS, and spectators can follow on their own phone with Viewer Mode.Tournament Cikgu Chess X Aeon Mall Taiping · 10 Oct 2026

  1. 1 · Film
  2. 2 · Detect
  3. 3 · Review
  4. 4 · Analyse
  5. 5 · Render
  6. 6 · Share

Studio for Windows comes first, with a free 14-day trial; the Android app and the Live module follow in their own phases. Some scenes are from the phone app.

Your week

What changes when the moves come out of the video.

Rebuilding by hand

  • Scrub the footage to find each move
  • Set up every position on an analysis board
  • Type the PGN and hope it matches the video
  • Build a board graphic frame by frame — or skip it

With ChessZCam

  • Moves come out of the video with their time and frame
  • You check the flagged moments, not all of them
  • PGN, analysis and overlay come from the same checked record
  • One game feeds a long video, a vertical Short, diagrams and notes

Long-form game videos

A full game with a live-looking board and eval bar.

Shorts, Reels & TikTok

Portrait 1080×1920, re-flowed for a phone screen.

Tournament recaps

Several boards, each with a clean PGN and key moments.

Live shows

vMix or OBS with ChessZCam Live (third phase).

What it does not do. It does not write your story, and detection depends on the footage. Commentary, selection and the final edit stay yours; check the flagged moves before you publish.

Tournament proof · October 2026

Tested where creators film.

Two tournaments in October 2026 — one in a shopping mall, one in a hall. Photos and clip by the developer; players and visitors are blurred.

Tournament Cikgu Chess X Aeon Mall Taiping

10 Oct 2026

Rounds 5–7 on three boards: live detection on a Samsung and a vivo phone, Viewer Mode for spectators, and Studio on a laptop with a capture card. The response to the graphics, Viewer Mode and the analysis was positive.

A phone held up at a mall tournament showing ChessZCam Viewer Mode with the live board, a Best move verdict and the move list; players in the background are blurred
Viewer Mode on a phone at the mallThe live board, a “Best move” verdict and Stockfish, from the camera phone at the table.
17 seconds at Aeon Mall TaipingViewer Mode following the game as it is played. Everything except the phone is blurred; no sound.

Santai Catur SPS 2026

3 Oct 2026

Phone to phone: a camera phone on a stand ran live detection at the board while parents and coaches followed on their own phones with Viewer Mode. What the day taught went straight into the next builds: the board realigns by itself after a small bump to the stand, and live detection gained the same focus and exposure locks as Broadcast.

Camera phone on its stand with the ChessZCam setup check and 2 devices connected; faces are blurred
Setup check before the roundCorners, board size, light, focus and stability; “2 devices” means a Viewer phone is connected.
A Viewer phone held in front of a tournament board with the camera phone on a stand behind it; faces are blurred
Two phones, one boardA Viewer phone in the hand, the camera phone on its stand behind it.
Board 1 of a junior tournament with a phone on an arm filming the board; the players' faces are blurred
Board 1The camera phone on an arm above the top board.

The whole story of all six tournament tests: project journey.

Part of the chess community

Different tools, a shared love of chess.

We respect the work of established tools such as idChess and DGT. ChessZCam is a small, independent project offering another option for recording and creating content, with room to complement the equipment and workflow you already enjoy.

Camera apps such as idChess

idChess offers a phone-camera approach to recording and broadcasting over-the-board games. If it already suits your needs, there is no reason to change your setup for ChessZCam.

Explore idChess on its official website →

Where ChessZCam hopes to help

Our focus is reviewing camera footage, correcting moves and creating PGN records and overlay videos. You might use it for extra camera coverage or recorded content alongside an existing event setup. A stable, clear recording and human review still matter.

Explore the ChessZCam workflow →

Choose what works for your games, budget and team. Here, “complement” means an additional workflow; it does not promise automatic PGN import, device pairing or a direct integration with idChess or DGT. Product names belong to their respective owners; zonChess is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Please check each official website for current features.

Ideas, requests or a question? Until we have a better place for community discussions, email admin@zonchess.com. I will do my best to give you a helpful reply.

Recording

Good footage in, less fixing out.

  • Look down at 45°–90°. A stand beside the board, looking down at it, keeps every square visible.
  • Whole board, steady. Four corners and a margin in frame, the far king visible, the stand weighted and out of reach.
  • Even light, one original file. No glare or hard shadows; start before move 1 and analyse the original recording.
Read the illustrated recording guide
ChessZCam aligning the board on the demo clip: four corner markers on the board corners before Lock
Align: the four corners are found, then you tap Lock (demo clip).

FAQ

Questions from creators.

Is ChessZCam an alternative to idChess?

It is an independent option that also reads moves from a camera. Its focus is creator work: a checked PGN where every move is linked to its video frame, overlay videos up to 4K, and a live overlay for vMix or OBS. idChess is a trademark of its owner; zonChess is not affiliated with it.

Do I need a DGT or another electronic board?

No. ChessZCam works with ordinary tournament boards and sets and a camera on a stand. If you already use electronic boards, keep them where sensor-level certainty matters; ChessZCam can cover the other boards or your recorded footage.

Which camera do I need?

Any phone or camera that records the whole board steadily. With ChessZCam Studio on a Windows PC you analyse the video file, or use a webcam or capture card. The Android app (Android 7 or later; recording needs Android 10 or later) follows Studio.

Can I use footage I already have?

Yes, if the whole board is visible and the camera is steady: Analyze Video reads a saved recording. Low angles, cut-off corners or heavily edited videos give weaker results — see the recording guide.

How accurate is it?

It depends mostly on the footage. Uncertain moves are flagged instead of guessed, every move can be checked and corrected against its video frame, and gaps are connected with legal moves only. Always check before you publish.

Can I make Shorts, Reels or TikTok videos?

Yes. The portrait 1080×1920 layout re-flows the overlay for a phone screen, from the same checked game as your landscape video.

Is my footage uploaded anywhere?

No. Detection, review and Stockfish run on your own device. Studio needs the internet once to activate the trial; video processing stays local.

What does it cost?

Studio comes first, with a free 14-day trial on one PC that starts only when you agree to the terms and start it in Studio (no code needed). Package prices are on the ChessZCam page; waitlist members get 50% off their first package when sales open.

Can it settle a dispute at the board?

No. ChessZCam is for recording, review and content. Anything at the board is the arbiter's decision.

Your next OTB video

Keep your time for the part only you can do.

Join the waitlist: trial invitations go to the waitlist first, and members get 50% off their first ChessZCam package when sales open. Joining is free and is not an order.

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