Those who play online quickly become familiar with the concept of time increment. For example they might play games at 5 minutes + 5 seconds/move or 2 minutes + 12 seconds/move. In these cases the increment (say 5 seconds) is added to your time before each move; so if your clock reads 4:02 while your opponent is pondering his move, it moves up to 4:07 when it is your turn to move. Time increment has also been used over the board in FIDE tournaments with 90 minutes + 30 seconds/move a common variation.
However, over the board in the U.S. (and perhaps elsewhere?) we use time delay instead. In this case, the 5 seconds are not added to our time but instead the clock pauses for 5 seconds before continuing to count down. Obviously this has implications for the type of chess clock one might consider purchasing since some have time delay, others time increment, and still others both modes.
Given this, I was surprised to read this post at NYChessKids about the DGT 2000 Chess Clock. Since this clock only offers time increment it has not been particularly popular in the states. However, the poster notes that:
However, over the board in the U.S. (and perhaps elsewhere?) we use time delay instead. In this case, the 5 seconds are not added to our time but instead the clock pauses for 5 seconds before continuing to count down. Obviously this has implications for the type of chess clock one might consider purchasing since some have time delay, others time increment, and still others both modes.
Given this, I was surprised to read this post at NYChessKids about the DGT 2000 Chess Clock. Since this clock only offers time increment it has not been particularly popular in the states. However, the poster notes that:...the current (5th edition) of U.S. Chess Federation rules state that DELAY and INCREMENT are considered equivalent: not only do few players know this, probably the majority of tournament directors do not realize this either, given the lack of uniformity in training and qualifications of TDs who direct events.Hey tournament directors: Is this really true? Can I use time increment at the next tournament I play in where time delay is in use?
In summary: the DGT is the official clock of the International Chess Federation, and is perfectly acceptable in USCF-rated events.
3 comments:
Yes, David, yes you can!
(How's that for a delayed answer - a few years since you asked the question! :-) )
Hi, Doc, you (and/or other newer readers) may not know that old comments were lost when various aspects of this blog were converted in 12/2009. This original post had a string of comments which did answer Dave's question, according to my recollection, although I was not an active reader of this blog until some time after that post.
However, I also found this very insightful observation on http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/have-you-ever-played-with-bronstein-timing:
Let's compare a 2 second time delay with a 2 second Bronstein bonus.
Imagine a situation with 4 seconds left on your clock. With the delay, you could make your move in 5 seconds and still have 1 second left on your clock. With the bonus, if you took 5 seconds, you would lose.
More importantly, with a delay, you always have at least that amount of time to make the move. This is not so with the Bronstein mode. The USCF uses a 5 second delay on the theory that in simple drawn endings that one player could push on in indefinitely, the defending side just has to make their moves in under 5 seconds no matter how little time is on their clock.
My preference would be that simple, non-cumulative time delay be the single standard, and (non-cumulative) add-back wouldn't be allowed (though I am not trying to start a wild digital clock discussion, that should more profitably be conducted on the USCF forums.
Doc (and/or some of our newer readers) may not know that this blog's older comments were lost in 12/2009, and also around the end of 2010 when various aspects of the blog were changed.
The original comments did include an answer to Dave's query, and it's good that Doc posted one, too, for folks who arrive new at the original post.
I would point out, however, the following useful comments from http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/have-you-ever-played-with-bronstein-timing:
Let's compare a 2 second time delay with a 2 second Bronstein bonus.
Imagine a situation with 4 seconds left on your clock. With the delay, you could make your move in 5 seconds and still have 1 second left on your clock. With the bonus, if you took 5 seconds, you would lose.
More importantly, with a delay, you always have at least that amount of time to make the move. This is not so with the Bronstein mode. The USCF uses a 5 second delay on the theory that in simple drawn endings that one player could push on in indefinitely, the defending side just has to make their moves in under 5 seconds no matter how little time is on their clock.
I consider simple (non-cumulative) time-delay more useful, more intuitive, and easier to explain than (non-cumulative) add-back. If I ran the chess zoo (and I most certainly do not), I would eliminate add-back.
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