Chess Streaming Software: What You Need for Live Games and Tournaments

The short version

Streaming yourself playing online: OBS or similar software is enough. Streaming over-the-board games: you also need the moves in a live feed and something that turns them into a broadcast — that is where chess-specific software such as ChessMotion Live comes in.

The jobs chess streaming software has to do

Every chess stream does the same handful of jobs, whether one program does them or five: get the moves (the game data source), draw them as a picture (the broadcast graphics), encode and send that picture (the streaming), and show it to viewers (the destination). Two more matter at events: handling many boards at once, and keeping a recording.

Which software you need depends on which of those jobs your setup already does.

Game data: where the moves come from

If you are streaming yourself playing online, the site you play on is the game source: Lichess or Chess.com draws the board, and your streaming software captures the screen.

Over-the-board games are different. The moves come from electronic boards, through the software they connect to, which publishes the games as a live PGN feed or relays them to a Lichess Broadcast. Without that feed, no software can show the game live.

Broadcast graphics: turning moves into a picture

There are three ways to get a watchable picture from a feed. Capture a website showing the game — quick, but viewers see a web page. Build overlays in general streaming software — flexible, but every board, name and clock is yours to keep current. Or use chess broadcast software that draws the board, players and clocks from the feed itself, so the picture follows the game without anyone touching it.

Streaming: encoding and sending

OBS Studio and similar programs encode on your own computer, so they need a capable machine and steady upload bandwidth wherever you are; they are also the tools for webcams, commentary and scenes of your own. Cloud tools encode on their servers instead, so nothing has to run at the venue except the boards. ChessMotion Live works that way: the broadcast is rendered, encoded and streamed from ChessMotion’s servers at 1080p and 30 frames a second.

Destinations: YouTube, Twitch and the rest

Most platforms take a stream the same way: a server address and a stream key over RTMP or RTMPS. YouTube and Twitch are the usual choices for chess; Kick and Facebook work the same way. Instagram, TikTok and X give keys only to accounts allowed to go live with streaming software. Sending one broadcast to several platforms at once is called multistreaming; some tools do it themselves, others need a separate service.

Vertical platforms want a 9:16 picture. Software that produces landscape and vertical at once saves building the broadcast twice.

Many boards: the part general tools do not do

A tournament round is many games at once, and the interesting one changes. Following every board, putting one on air, switching without the stream dropping and following the next round are chess-specific jobs; general streaming software leaves them to the person at the keyboard. This is the main reason chess broadcast software exists.

Recording

Platforms usually keep the stream: YouTube saves a finished live stream on the channel, and Twitch keeps past broadcasts if that setting is on. Local streaming software can also record a file as it streams. Cloud broadcast tools vary; ChessMotion Live does not store the whole broadcast, so the platform’s copy is the recording.

Which setup fits

ChessMotion Live is built for the last two: it reads a Lichess Broadcast or live PGN feed, produces the broadcast in landscape and vertical, and streams it to YouTube, Twitch and other platforms, switching boards live. ChessMotion for chess streamers covers the first. For the whole setup of an event, see how to stream a chess tournament.

• Streaming yourself playing online: OBS or Streamlabs, your webcam and the site you play on. Chess broadcast software is not needed. To turn a game you played into a short video afterwards, see ChessMotion for chess streamers.
• One over-the-board game, such as a club final: a live feed of that board and software that turns it into a broadcast, or a captured board and overlays if you are happy to run them by hand.
• A tournament round with many boards: a Lichess Broadcast or live PGN of every board, and broadcast software that follows them all and switches without going off air.

Frequently asked questions

Is OBS chess streaming software?

OBS is general streaming software: it encodes and streams whatever you put in its scenes. It does not read chess moves, so a board, players and clocks for an over-the-board game have to come from somewhere else and be kept current by hand.

Can ChessMotion Live stream Chess.com games?

No. ChessMotion Live follows Lichess Broadcasts, live PGN feeds and PGN pushes. To stream yourself playing on Chess.com, use OBS or similar software.

Do I need a powerful computer to stream a chess tournament?

Not with a cloud tool: the broadcast is rendered and streamed on its servers. With local streaming software, the computer and the venue’s upload bandwidth do that work.

Can one broadcast go to YouTube and Twitch at once?

With ChessMotion Live, yes: add a destination for each, up to 2 on Creator Live and 6 on Club Live.