Table of Contents
The clock is one of the most important components in a chess game. Time is of the essence. You must always be aware of how much time you have left and how much time your opponent has left. Staying ahead on time is a powerful strategy in and of itself. Of course, you want to use all the time you need to make an accurate move and blunder less, at the same time only taking enough time to calculate your next move and make it.
What Is The Clock For In Chess?
The clock displays how much time each player has for the duration of the entire game. The player playing the black pieces will hit their clock, starting the clock of the white pieces. After white makes a move and hit their clock, blacks clock will start ticking down. If you run out of time, you lose the game.
So calculating how much time you should spend per move is always on your mind which helps you remain aware of how much time you have to complete each turn.
For example, if you’re playing a 10 minute game, which would be a rapid game, it means each play has a total of 10 minutes for the duration of the game. For a total of 20 minutes.
Types of Clocks
There are two types of clocks, digital and analog. Analog clocks have arrows that point to specific numbers indicating the amount of time that has elapsed since the start of the game. Digital clocks use red digits, like on a digital watch, to show how many minutes are left for each player’s move.
In this article, we’ll explain more about why the clock is used in chess, and why it is so important for chess tournaments.
The Purpose of the Clock
The purpose of the clock is to prevent players from wasting time while they are thinking about what their next move should be, or looking for a good looking checkmate. There are two main reasons that this is so important: one has to do with tournament strategy and the other has to do with how chess works.
In chess tournaments, time is an important part of the tournament structure. Chess tournaments are divided into rounds, and those rounds are divided into time segments.
During the first round of the tournament, each player gets one hour on the clock per game. In subsequent rounds, this might be reduced to 30 minutes or even less.
The reason for these reduced time limits is that the games are always listed in a tournament schedule by the number of boards they involve (e.g., 4/8 means four players using eight boards).
If a match goes beyond that number of games (e.g. 5/8, 6/8), then the extra boards must be played at a later date. Tournament directors then have to accommodate these matches in the overall scheme of things, and they usually split them up into several rounds, which can cause problems for players who are used to having more time on their clock per game.
The other reason time is important in chess is because it creates a constraint on one’s strategy. If you’re limited for time, you’ll need to think through all possible scenarios much faster before making your move. This gives a competitive edge to those who can spot patterns and certain types of plays in chess.
Time Increments
In most chess tournaments, it’s common for there to be time increments of usually 2 seconds. This means, every time a play makes a move and hits their clock, they gain 2 seconds. It’s not uncommon for players to get down to less than 10 seconds and the game still continuing for another 10, 20, or another 30 moves.
How To Use Time Efficiently In Chess
There are several ways to use chess time efficiently. Here’s how to make the most of your time in a game.
Before you make a move, collect all the information you need. Don’t just go by your “feelings” or intuition about what’s good or bad. Take a few seconds to think through and remember what could happen in the position before you actually move. This will save yourself time in getting ready for your next move, if you don’t end up making a mistake by not considering all the possibilities in the position.
Don’t waste your time thinking about getting a mate or winning material. If you’re unable to see the mate in two moves, then take the move that does the most damage. The idea is to win your games as fast as possible, so don’t spend any more time on any one move than is required.
Don’t try to beat yourself by moving slowly in order to get more time on the clock. This just wastes your time and makes you lose energy and concentration faster than if you’d been playing fast all along.
Don’t move too quickly in your last few moves. One of the purposes of chess time control is to reduce the number of moves a player has to think through in order to win a position.
If you have a time advantage, then you have an incentive to move unnecessarily slow in order to make more moves. The best way to use this potential advantage is not by rushing, but by making sure you take the extra time needed so that your opponent is left with too many choices for his next move. This usually leads to your opponent making an error in judgment.
Conclusion
The clock is an important part of the tournament structure. Using time efficiently basically means playing fast, but not rushed. Be alert to the position on the board, and make sure to take your time to move without wasting it.
Sources
