Timer Settings

General format: M1/T1/I1, M2/T2/I2, M3/T3/I3

M1 = number of moves that must be completed in phase 1.

T1 = number of minutes added to the clock at the start of phase 1.

I1 = number of seconds added to the clock at each move during phase 1. The way the increment I is added

 to the clock depends on the clock mode.

The M parameter can be set to 'G' to cover all moves until the end of the game. The default unit (minutes) for the T parameter can be changed by using 'h' for hours, 'm' for minutes or 's' for seconds in the string (for example 1h30 or 2m15s). The timer setting can be a combination of up to three controls separated by a comma in the setup string. The last defined control will repeat indefinitely. For example if the last setting was 20/20 there would be 20 minutes added to the clock after every 20 moves.

Clock modes

The clock has four modes that differ from each other by the way the increment value is handled. The same control format described above applies to all modes.

Fischer

At the beginning of each move the increment value I is added to the player's remaining time. Thus, if the player uses less than the increment time to make his move the timer value is actually increasing.

Fischer after

Same as Fischer except that the increment value is added to the clock at the end of the move.

Bronstein

If the player makes the move within the time increment the used time is restored to the clock at the end of the move. If the move takes longer than the increment only the increment value is restored to the clock. Effectively, the player can not gain any extra time by making quick moves but on the other hand the clock will only get decremented by the move time that exceeds the increment value.

Simple delay

The I defines a delay that is consumed first at the beginning of each move before the timer starts counting. No time is added to the timer no matter how fast the move is made. If the move is made within the delay the timer value will remain unchanged.

Timing options

Hour class

If this radio button is checked all time that is decremented from one player's clock gets added to the opponent's clock. When one clock is decrementing the other clock is incrementing i.e. the clocks work as an hour glass where sand is moving from one side to the other.

Word

If this radio button is checked the game is not over even if the clock runs to zero. Instead, the extra seconds used after zero are accumulated into a separate penalty word. The clock will need to be stopped manually at the end of the game and it is then up to the players to define how they use the penalty values when determining the winner.

Examples

G/30 = Timer is set to 30 minutes at the start and the player has to play all his moves in the given time. No time is added during game.

G/22/12 = Timer is set to 22 minutes at start and during game an extra 12 seconds is added per each turn.

40/60 = Timer is set to 60 minutes at start. Each time the player completes 40 moves in the available time the player will be given 60 more minutes which is added to any unused time. For example if a player had 10 minutes left after making 40 moves then on move 41 the player will have 10+60 = 70 minutes of time to make the next 40 moves.

40/60, 20/10 = In the first phase the player must complete 40 moves and is given 60 minutes on the clock. After completing the 40 moves, 10 minutes will be added to the clock to complete 20 more moves. After completing 40+20 = 60 moves 10 more minutes will be added to the clock to complete 20 more moves. The last phase continues to repeat after every 20 additional moves are made.

40/60, G/20 = In the first phase the player must complete 40 moves and is given 60 minutes on the clock. After completing the 40 moves, 20 minutes will be added to the clock to complete the rest of the game. Note that there cannot be more phases after G is specified for the number of moves.

20/30/10 = The clock starts with 30 minutes of time and 10 seconds of time are added to the clock after each move. When a player completes 20 moves 30 more minutes are added to the clock and 10 seconds of time continue to be added after each move. When the player completes the next 20 moves 30 more minutes are added to the clock and so on.

40/90/30, G/30/30 = The clock starts with 90 minutes of time and 30 seconds of time are added to the clock after each move. When a player completes 40 moves 30 more minutes of time is added to the clock and after each move 30 seconds continue to be added to the clock. This is the standard time control used by the World Chess Federation for all of its tournaments.

1/1/60, 1/10s/30 = The clock starts with one minute of time and after the player makes the first move 70 seconds are added to the clock (60 due to I1 plus 10 due to T2). After the player completes the 2nd move 40 seconds are added to the clock (10 due to T2 and 30 due to I2).

Load and save

You can create your own presets by using the editor that appears when you touch the upper screen area on the settings page. When you save your settings the filename you define will be written with the current settings from both sides along with the current audio settings. It is thus possible to define presets where the players have different timing setups but the audio settings are the same for both sides. The factory presets all have the same default audio settings but you can change them by loading the preset, then modifying the audio settings and then saving the preset again.

Note that the load and save functions are only loading and saving the setups and not the current status of the clocks. The clocks are saved automatically whenever you exit the application and the same state is resumed next time you open the application.