An ordinary tournament set
No sensors, no cables, no special pieces. The players sit at the same kind of board as every other table in the hall.
How ChessZCam works · OTB chess broadcasting
From a physical board to a digital overlay.
Built for parents, creators and organizers who want a real over-the-board game on screen without wiring up electronic boards. A phone or camera watches an ordinary board and ChessZCam reads the moves on the device. ChessZCam Studio for Windows comes first, with a free 14-day trial: it analyses recordings from any phone or camera. The Android app and the live console for vMix and OBS follow. New: the creator workflow in motion and an illustrated recording guide.
Ordinary board + phone or camera
Windows: Studio & Live
Detection runs on the device
Waitlist: first access + discount
The chain, link by link
Board → phone → PC → screen.
Every ChessZCam setup is built from the same four links, and only the first two are required: a phone alone can record, detect, review and export. A PC adds resources, not concepts.
ChessZCam on Android
A phone on a stable stand at the side of the board, all four corners in view. It finds the corners, locks the board and reads each move on the device — uncertain moves are flagged, not guessed.
ChessZCam Studio or ChessZCam Live
Studio is the same app on a Windows screen, with webcam, capture-card and OBS Virtual Camera input (its first trial release leaves out Record Game Video and Sync PGN to Video for now). ChessZCam Live is the operator console for vMix & OBS. On one PC they pair with one click.
PGN, overlay video or a live overlay
A clean PGN, an overlay video up to 4K, or a Browser Source that vMix or OBS puts on air — in the Obsidian Glass HUD, with Stockfish analysis if you want it. New: a spectator's own phone, through Viewer Mode.
On a live broadcast only small move data travels from the phone to the PC — never the video. Detection runs locally, and your videos and games stay on your own devices; no account or internet connection is needed to record and export.
Current trial builds
Studio 1.1.2 · trial candidate
Phone app 1.22
Live 1.12
All pre-release
Six operations · three routes
Choose how the game leaves the board.
The app opens on six operations: Record Game Video, Analyze Video, Detect Live Game, Broadcast Live, Sync PGN to Video and Open Project. They make three routes — live on air, a recorded game, or a live PGN — plus two ways to pick up work you already have.
BROADCAST LIVE → CHESSZCAM LIVE
The phone reads the board; the operator decides what goes on air.
Broadcast Live sends the board state — not video — over the local network to ChessZCam Live, the console on the PC. vMix or OBS picks up the overlay as a Browser Source, next to your own camera picture.
- Phone and PC pair with a code, so the link is yours alone on a shared hall network
- Every move is acknowledged; after a Wi-Fi drop the overlay catches up in one clean resync
- A correction screen blocks illegal positions, and nothing reaches air until you press Push to overlay
- Six overlay styles, lower-third cards, a verdict lane with a plain-language note per move, and a separate read-only Viewer QR for spectators outside the hall
RECORD GAME VIDEO → ANALYZE VIDEO
Film the game now, get the digital game afterwards.
Record Game Video saves the whole game in 1080p with audio and a framing guide. Later, Analyze Video — on the phone or in ChessZCam Studio — detects every move from the recording.
- Adaptive scan at 1–4× speed; every move stored with its timestamp and video frame
- Review & repair: video evidence beside each move; add or fix moves, then rescan once
- Optional Stockfish on the device: ten move grades, accuracy per player, EN/BM commentary
- Export a PGN, or an overlay video — MP4, transparent WebM or PNG sequence, up to 4K, landscape or portrait
DETECT LIVE GAME
Camera straight to PGN.
For when you want the moves, not the footage. Detect Live Game follows the game from the live camera and writes the PGN as it goes. No video is saved, so it is the low-storage route.
- Every confirmed move is written down as it happens
- Board or camera nudged? The correction tools re-align the position and you carry on
- Works offline, with no account
SYNC PGN TO VIDEO · OPEN PROJECT
Already have the moves? Bring them in.
Sync PGN to Video (Android app; not in the first Studio release) matches a PGN you already have — typed up from a scoresheet, for example — to a recording and exports a timed overlay. Open Project continues a saved review with its corrections, analysis and layout.
- Saved games library: find recordings by player, event or round
- Save a review as a project and finish it later
- The same overlay renderer as the live broadcast, so both look the same
More on each operation, the overlay finishes and the live console: ChessZCam — six operations and live broadcast. Why the phone always stays a complete product: A PC adds resources, not concepts.
Who it is for
Three problems it was built to solve.
The same chain serves parents, creators and organizers. Here is each problem — and what ChessZCam honestly does about it today.
THE PROBLEM
Parents: follow OTB chess from the waiting area
Your child is playing an important game, but parents are not allowed near the boards. You cannot see the position, the moves, or how the game is going.
WHAT CHESSZCAM DOES TODAYThe live board on your own phone, and a replay afterwards
With the organiser's permission, a phone at the board detects the game. With Viewer Mode, now in trial builds, you follow the live digital board in the ChessZCam Android app from outside the hall, on the same Wi-Fi or hotspot. Afterwards you get a clean PGN, Stockfish analysis with move grades and accuracy, and an overlay video to watch together at home.
Viewer Mode does not work from home or over mobile data. It was used at two tournaments in October 2026 — Santai Catur SPS 2026 and Tournament Cikgu Chess X Aeon Mall Taiping. It shows engine analysis, so it is for spectators outside the playing hall, never for players; the organiser decides whether it may be used.
THE PROBLEM
Creators: chess live stream without slow manual boards
You want to show physical over-the-board games on stream, but updating a digital board by hand — or waiting on slow detection — spoils it for viewers.
WHAT CHESSZCAM DOES TODAYAI chess move detection for OBS & vMix
The phone reads the moves and ChessZCam Live puts them into OBS or vMix as a Browser Source overlay. It needs good framing and lighting; when something goes wrong, the operator can hold, correct and resume without the stream showing the mess.
- After the game: MP4 with the overlay burned in, or transparent WebM/PNG for your editor
- Portrait 1080×1920 for Shorts, Reels and TikTok
The whole creator workflow with real screens: ChessZCam for OTB creators · how to record well.
THE PROBLEM
Organizers: an additional camera option for featured boards
An event may already use electronic boards, camera apps or another established setup. Some teams also want camera coverage for an extra featured board.
WHAT CHESSZCAM DOES TODAYPhone-camera coverage on an ordinary board
Use the standard boards already on the tables and a phone on a stable stand. One phone watches one featured board, ChessZCam Live gives the operator a console, and vMix or OBS gets the overlay.
- Plan the network: a dedicated router or phone hotspot is the reliable setup in a busy hall
- Electronic boards remain an excellent professional standard — ChessZCam is the lighter path
- For recording, review and broadcast only; the arbiter decides at the board
Camera apps, electronic boards and ChessZCam side by side: camera apps, electronic boards and ChessZCam.
Built with care, tested in reality
The core chain has been run in a real hall.
Six tournament tests so far, each one feeding the next build — and ChessZCam will not go on sale until it has held up at real tournaments. In October 2026 Viewer Mode joined the tests: phone to phone at Santai Catur SPS 2026, and with live detection, Viewer and Studio together at Tournament Cikgu Chess X Aeon Mall Taiping. It is built by one independent developer and chess parent at Motivace Studio, Malaysia — no company, no sponsor. Young players' faces are blurred on this site.
Swipe or scroll sideways for more →
19 September 2026 · Round 7 · Under 12Lotus's Kulim — made with ChessZCam Studio.
26 July 2026 · Round 2 · Board 1SJKC Keong Hoe, Penang — made with ChessZCam Studio.
A note on accuracy. Detection accuracy depends on the setup and the quality of the video — camera position, a steady stand, good light and focus. Human intervention in these two videos was kept to a minimum so they show ChessZCam's current abilities and limits honestly; if you spot a wrong move, please tell us. Constructive feedback is how this gets better.
Quick answers
Questions about the chain.
Do I need a PC?
Not in the long run: a phone alone can record, detect, review, analyse and export. The first release, though, is ChessZCam Studio for Windows — it analyses recordings from any phone or camera — and the Android app follows. ChessZCam Live, the console for vMix and OBS, comes third.
Does video travel over the network during a live broadcast?
No. Only small move data goes from the phone to ChessZCam Live on the PC. Detection runs on the device, and your videos and games stay with you.
Which devices does it run on?
The camera app runs on Android; ChessZCam Studio and ChessZCam Live run on Windows 10/11. ChessZCam works best at 4 FPS or higher, which most modern phones handle comfortably. Android and Windows come first; other platforms only when demand and capacity are clear. See compatibility.
Can ChessZCam settle a dispute at the board?
No. It is for recording, review and broadcast. Accuracy depends on the setup and the video quality, and the arbiter always decides.
When can I try it, and what will 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 ChessZCam package when sales open. Joining the waitlist is free and is not an order. Trial invitations go to the waitlist first.
Early trial
Try the whole chain on your own board.
Join the waitlist now: trial invitations go to the waitlist first, starting with ChessZCam Studio and its free 14-day trial, and members get 50% off their first ChessZCam package when sales open. Joining is free and is not an order.