Chess Clock

It is widely known that chess players who compete at tournaments must play efficiently and rapidly. At tournaments players have a short amount of time to plan their move and they are aided by the chess game clock. The chess clock was not around in the old days, yet it is not easy now to find a chess competition, amateur or professional alike, that does not practice chess clock rules.

There are 2 common types of chess clocks--the traditional (analog or digital) clock and Fischer-clock. The traditional chess clock has 2 time counters, 1 for each player. Once a player makes his move, he pushes down a button which completely stops his counter and starts the opponents.

This act repeats itself until the conclusion of the game. In analog clocks there is a flag that will wave if time is over for one player, while digital clocks will beep to signal that. The Fischer-clock, recommended and named honoring former World Champion Grandmaster Robert Fischer, is utilized in a similar way.

The difference is that a constant amount of time (say 5 or 10 seconds) is added after every move. This helps prevent players from running into time-trouble.

The negotiated time controls are in relevance with the chess game clock used.

Time controls may differ from game to game. Players need to take into account the time controls declared when a tournament is to take place.

Different time controls give chess games different names.

A standard game usually has a time quota of 2 hours or more. A quick game is played in the range of 20-45 minutes, and a blitz game in the range 5-15 minutes. There are even shorter time controls, for example 3 minutes per game or 1 minute per game, sometimes referred to as 'lightning' or 'bullet', usually only played online. One that is not so familiar with chess will find them draining.

But what happens in case a player fails to accomplish his move in time? Commonly, he loses the game. There is an exception--if the player who still has time does not have sufficient material to win, then the game is drawn. In addition, a player who would usually win the game, had he enough time, may call the arbiter and request a draw.

The arbiter will view the position and make his decision. There are several issues regarding time controls but they are as a rule tournament-specific. In the majority of tournaments, players are in charge of checking their opponents time; in others the arbiter can indicate a flag fall as well.

These details are indeed of trivial importance and chess clock rules are weighed every now and then.

What is really vital is the way a player uses his time. A player should try to avoid getting into trouble. One should try playing slower, or he faces the risk in blundering. Use of time must be wise. If 2 hours are available for the whole game, this makes about 3 minutes per move (assuming a game is averaging about 40 moves).

If one feels that the game is going to be rather prolonged, he might play a bit faster.

Early moves typically require little thought and some moves are more or less automatic. Contrarily, difficult situations will involve more thinking and thus added time. In practical chess it is always beneficial to have more time available than the opposer has. Most of all it is necessary to keep an eye on the chess game clock and stick with the chess clock rules.