Any opinions out there as to the best all around digital clock, especially as regards to setting for delays and all around performance ? Thanks !
Tom Hartmayer
uconnchess.uconn.edu
I would prefer any clock that has “true” delay, as opposed to non-cumulative addback or “Bronstein”. Although the two are mathematically equivalent, “true” delay is less confusing to the players.
As far as I know, only the Chronos and Excalibur have “true” delay, but my information may be obsolete.
I’m partial to the Chronos (as are, apparently, a plurality of tournament players), but recent versions of the Excalibur are a pleasure to use, and far less costly than the Chronos.
One advantage of the Chronos is that it can, in some modes at least, display hours, minutes, and seconds all at the same time (h:mm:ss). The Excalibur displays h:mm until the time goes below 10 minutes, then it displays m:ss. (In some modes, especially those involving the move counter, the Chronos does the same thing.)
On the other hand, the Excalibur is the only clock I know of that can display the main time, the delay time as a digit, and the move counter, all at the same time, each in its own area on the display. The Chronos, in its move-counting modes (and some other modes), displays the delay only as a flashing colon or flashing hyphen.
There is one small Chronos feature that I really like. If your opponent presses his clock button and holds it down, you can still restart his clock by pressing your own button, even while he is still holding his button down. The Excalibur, with its movable buttons, can’t do this (nor can many other clocks, even those with electronic buttons).
The Excalibur has a viewing angle that is about 20 degrees off vertical. This is just about perfect. The Chronos, with its 45-degree viewing angle, often reflects ceiling light, depending on where the lights are, etc.
If you get an Excalibur, get a new one. Older models had several problems, and may not have all the features you need.
Bill Smythe