English Chess Forum

Not a fan of these digital clocks as I think the ticking should be part of the game a bit like when poker players shuffle their chips all game. (also hides people stomachs rumbling and such like)

I recently played a game as White in which we had 1.10 to make 34 moves - then 15 extra for the finish. I played my 34th move and my opponent thought for a while and his clock counted right down to 0.0 as he made his move and pressed the clock. His time jumped to 15.00 and the light did not flash. Cut it fine but I think he must have made the control with no seconds to spare. The clock would have flashed and not reset itself to 15 mins if he had not? Is this correct?


Wish we could rid of these digital clocks as there are some beautiful ticking clocks our there instead of these cheap looking giant digital watches.

Also what happens if the battery runs out, and what happens if you make a mistake and have to press/unpress it for some reason and it counts the that as a move but it’s not. Messes the whole thing up IMO and you don’t get any of these problems with the wind up clocks. ( Increment play aside)

Even the world champion claimed a lack of awareness of the clock when he lost in the first round in Paris earlier this month. I'm not sure if you hear anything in time pressure, so giving digital clocks a ticking or beeping sound might not achieve a great deal but it may help in some cases in others used as an excuse for lack of concentration.

There is certainly room for improvement on what we have, at least a battery symbol showing battery life would help.

Kevin O'Rourke wrote:Also what happens if the battery runs out

You'd put new batteries in, or failing that, use a spare clock. It's the equivalent problem to an analogue clock that needs winding up; except it happens very infrequently (once every 5 - 10 years?).

Kevin O'Rourke wrote:and what happens if you make a mistake and have to press/unpress it for some reason and it counts the that as a move but it’s not.

I cannot think of a time when you would have to "unpress" a clock. If you've pressed a clock to complete (say) an illegal move, then you have to adjust the clock anyway.

Kevin O'Rourke wrote:Messes the whole thing up IMO and you don’t get any of these problems with the wind up clocks. ( Increment play aside)

You get equivalent problems instead. On the other hand, you get accuracy to the nearest 10 seconds or so with analogue, not the nearest second.

MJMcCready wrote:There is certainly room for improvement on what we have, at least a battery symbol showing battery life would help.

All modern DGT clocks have this.

The new ones maybe but none at our club have this. They just die on you. Can't be completely sure but I think we use the 2010 or XL-something.

Kevin O'Rourke wrote: The clock would have flashed and not reset itself to 15 mins if he had not? Is this correct

It depends on the model of clock and which setting was used. In general, default behaviour of digital clocks with non-incremental time rates is that they don't know the time control. All it would have been told is to count down from 70 minutes, show a flag on the side where this happens first and then add another 15 and continue counting downwards.

I think you would have had a valid claim for a win on time, as your opponent failed to restart your clock before the time ran out. It could cause a dispute though, if the clock read 15:00 exactly.

Not enough info to give a definite answer.

Was the move counter set? Which clock were you using?

If the move counter was not set then the clock would automatically add on the 15 minutes but a flag would show that the time had expired.

If the move counter was on then the clock should have shown that it reached 0 and the time would not have been added.

I suspect that you were playing with a Saitek which has a flaw. If the clock is pressed exactly on 0 with the last move of the time control then it has been programmed to accept this as OK instead of a loss. In these cases it will wrongly add on the additional time and allow the game to continue.

I haven't experienced a clock which doesn't have a low battery warning - though some only show as you are setting them.

to be honset. I shouldn't have to worry about which clock, what type of clock etc.. i have enough on my mind in a chess game as it is. The clock WAS set so that after 34 moves it will add 15 that clock hence why it read 15.00 after his 34th move.

Kevin O'Rourke wrote: The clock WAS set so that after 34 moves it will add 15 that clock hence why it read 15.00 after his 34th move.

With non-incremental move rates, it's actually quite difficult to get them to do this.

the clock just adds that after 34 presses. Nothing to do with Increments. If he had 1.00 min left it would jump to 16.00

Something sounds amiss here. If he had lost on time it would have shown on the clock. Most models do not show fractions of seconds, so he probably had, for example, 00.0050 left when he made his move, which would have been shown as 00.00 but not flashing. It would not have reset itself, as you put it, if he had run out of time.

Kevin O'Rourke wrote: recently played a game as White in which we had 1.10 to make 34 moves - then 15 extra for the finish. I played my 34th move and my opponent thought for a while and his clock counted right down to 0.0 as he made his move and pressed the clock. His time jumped to 15.00 and the light did not flash. Cut it fine but I think he must have made the control with no seconds to spare. The clock would have flashed and not reset itself to 15 mins if he had not? Is this correct?

DGT clocks truncate the time remaining on the display, so, for example:

• 1 hr 31 mins displayed means the precise time remaining is >= 1 hr 31 mins and < 1 hr 32 mins
  15 mins 45 secs means the precise time remaining is >= 14 mins 45 secs and < 14 mins 46 secs
  0 seconds and no flag means the precise time remaining is >0 secs and < 1 sec
  15 mins 0 secs means the precise time remaining is >= 15 mins 0 secs and < 15 mins 1 sec.

So your opponent made the time control with less than a second to spare (if it was a DGT clock).

Ian Thompson wrote: DGT clocks truncate the time remaining on the display, so, for example:

1 hr 31 mins displayed means the precise time remaining is >= 1 hr 31 mins and < 1 hr 32 mins
15 mins 45 secs means the precise time remaining is >= 14 mins 45 secs and < 14 mins 46 secs

The first statement is correct the second is not.

15 mins 45 secs means the precise time remaining is >= 14 mins 45 secs and < 14 mins 44 secs

The minute display is less than the actual time but the second display shows more. When the clock shows 0.00 the player has used up all of his time.

Elaborating further, because I disagree with Alex that the first statement is correct.

Ian Thompson wrote: DGT clocks truncate the time remaining on the display, so, for example:

• 1 hr 31 mins displayed means the precise time remaining is >= 1 hr 31 mins and < 1 hr 32 mins
  15 mins 45 secs means the precise time remaining is >= 14 mins 45 secs and < 14 mins 46 secs
  0 seconds and no flag means the precise time remaining is >0 secs and < 1 sec
  15 mins 0 secs means the precise time remaining is >= 15 mins 0 secs and < 15 mins 1 sec.

So your opponent made the time control with less than a second to spare (if it was a DGT clock).

If you run a DGT clock down, when it hits 0.00, the flag appears immediately. So 0.01 means > 0 secs and < 1 sec. 0.00 is always accompanied by a flag.

Equally, when going through a time period, suppose you were adding 15 minutes. The display shows 0.03 0.02 0.01 15.00 (and the flag appears) 14.59 14.58... 15.00 means > 14.59 and < 15.00. So if it says 15.00 and the flag appears, then your time for the first period has expired.

At the start of the game, suppose you were playing G/90. The display would show 1:30. This means you have 1:30.00. When you start the clock, it will stay displaying 1:30 for 1 second (i.e. > 1:29.59 but less than <1:30, and only then show 1:29 once the second has elapsed. So if you have 1:29.59.5 the clock will still show 1:30.

If what you said was true, then if you started the game, you'd be starting with 1 second more than you were supposed to.

If during the game, the display shows 1:31, then you actually have >1:30.59 and <=1:31.59.

Alex McFarlane wrote:

Ian Thompson wrote: DGT clocks truncate the time remaining on the display, so, for example:

1 hr 31 mins displayed means the precise time remaining is >= 1 hr 31 mins and < 1 hr 32 mins
15 mins 45 secs means the precise time remaining is >= 14 mins 45 secs and < 14 mins 46 secs

The first statement is correct the second is not.

15 mins 45 secs means the precise time remaining is >= 14 mins 45 secs and < 14 mins 44 secs

The minute display is less than the actual time but the second display shows more. When the clock shows 0.00 the player has used up all of his time.

How can you have a remaining time that is both >= 14 mins 45 secs and < 14 mins 44 secs?

Ian Thompson wrote:How can you have a remaining time that is both >= 14 mins 45 secs and < 14 mins 44 secs?

Because time is continuous, not discrete.