No clock at hand? The free online chess clock runs on one phone or laptop between the two of you, with increment, delay and Bronstein.
The basic idea
A chess clock is two countdown clocks joined so that only one runs at a time. When it's your move, your clock runs. Make your move, press your button, and your clock stops as your opponent's starts. Run out of time and you lose the game, however good your position.
Setting up
- Where it goes. To the side of the board, so both players can reach it. Under US Chess rules the player with Black chooses the side; at a FIDE event the arbiter decides.
- Who starts it. By custom, Black presses to start White's clock, and White makes the first move. At a tournament the arbiter may start the clocks for everyone.
- Set both sides the same, unless you're giving a weaker player extra time on purpose. That's a handicap game, and plenty of club players use one.
Pressing it properly
- Make your move and let go of the piece.
- Press the clock with the same hand you moved with. The FIDE Laws require it, and it stops the habit of hovering one hand over the clock while the other moves.
- Leave your hand off the button afterward.
Forgetting to press is the classic blitz mistake. Your clock keeps running while you wait. Your opponent doesn't have to say anything.
Reading a time control
Online and in most of the world, a control is written as two numbers: minutes for the game, plus seconds per move.
- 3+2 is three minutes each, with two seconds added after every move.
- 10+0 is ten minutes each, nothing added. When it's gone, it's gone.
- 90/40 + 30 + 30 is FIDE's classical control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 more for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds added after every move from move one.
US Chess writes the base time as "G" for game and the delay with a "d". G/30 d5 is 30 minutes each with a five-second delay. The chess time control calculator reads either style and says whether it counts as bullet, blitz, rapid or classical.
Increment, delay and Bronstein
All three exist so that nobody loses a won game just because the clock ran down while they were moving fast in the last few seconds. They do it differently.
- Increment (Fischer). After each move, a fixed number of seconds is added to your clock. Move faster than the increment and your time goes up. This is the one most online sites use.
- Delay (US, or simple, delay). At the start of each move your clock waits for the delay before counting down. A move within the delay costs nothing, but you can never gain time.
- Bronstein. After your move you get back the time you just used, up to the delay amount. In practice it ends up the same as simple delay. It just shows on the display differently.
With five seconds, a three-second move leaves you two seconds up under increment and exactly even under either delay.
Blitz, rapid and classical
The FIDE Laws classify a game by the time each player gets, counting an increment as if the game ran 60 moves. Ten minutes or less is blitz, more than ten and less than 60 is rapid, and 60 or more is a standard game. So 3+2 counts as 5 minutes, blitz, and 15+10 counts as 25, rapid.
When a flag falls
"Flag" comes from the little lever on old clocks that dropped when time ran out. If your time runs out first, you lose, with one exception. If your opponent can't checkmate you by any legal series of moves, because they only have a bare king, for example, the game is a draw instead. US Chess has its own version of this rule with a few more cases.
In a casual game, claim it politely. In a tournament, stop both clocks and call the arbiter or director if there's any question.
On one phone, with the score
Chess Clock & Scorepad, our app, has all three timing modes, fifteen ready controls from bullet to FIDE classical, and multi-stage controls. With the scoresheet on, you tap your move on a board and that presses the clock, so the game is recorded with every move's time. It is free on the App Store and Google Play.
Download on the App Store ▶ Get it on Google Play
For a club night, the chess score sheet prints free, with room for 60 moves.
Frequently asked questions
What does 5+3 mean in chess?
Five minutes each for the whole game, plus three seconds added to your clock after every move you make. The second number is the increment, in seconds.
What is the difference between increment and delay?
Increment adds time to your clock after each move, so you can build up a bank. Delay holds your clock still for a few seconds at the start of each move before it counts down, so a fast move costs nothing but you never gain time.
Which hand do you press the chess clock with?
The same hand you moved the piece with. That's in the FIDE Laws and it's good manners everywhere else too.
What happens if your time runs out in chess?
You lose, unless your opponent has no way at all to checkmate you, for example a bare king. Then the game is a draw.
Who starts the chess clock?
By custom, the player with Black starts White's clock to begin the game. At a tournament the arbiter or director may start it instead. After that, each player presses after their own move.