Chonos Chess Clock question

[jjamesge1]

@jwiewel

@jjamesge1

…

What would be also cool is if it could be programmed from a central Alexa that sitting in the tournament room. Just tell Alexa what the time controls are and have it send out a wifi signal to set all the clocks with the same time controls.

I’ve done a number of small tournaments with a single room and multiple schedules, and a number of tournaments with different sections on ASAP schedules all in the same room. The tournaments I’ve done with different schedules in the same room include US Opens (invitationals using increment schedules at the same time as the traditional schedule, and the first six rounds of the four-day while the 6-day and traditional are going on), National Opens (the beginner section with three 6-round/single-day schedules) and Chicago Opens (a ballroom was lost for part of the day and the 2-day games have to share the main room for a round). Even if there exists a switch on the clock to lock out resets (and everybody in the game is actually using it even if they’ve paused the clock to ask a TD a question), that only handles rounds starting at different times. Rounds starting at the same time of day but using different time controls would require a very focused wi-fi signal and all players having their clocks inside the focus of the signal that applies to them.
If all games in the room have the same time control and the same starting time (such as a scholastic spring national) then it would save time.

There will also be players coming late after the wi-fi signal is sent, but their clocks should have time taken off both sides anyway so requiring them to go to a TD would be okay.

I was only suggesting to be able to manually lock out voice commands with a button on the clock, not lock the clock completely. Certainly it would mandatory if only to make sure background noise didn’t accidentally mess up the clock while a game was in progress. Burger King got burned , so to speak, after they had that commercial that deliberately made Alexa bring up the wikipedia page on Burger King, if I recall. To say the public wasn’t happy about that commercial would be an understatement.

[Smythe_Dakota]

I may be old-fashioned, but I hate voice recognition software. I don’t mind pressing buttons (“please enter your account number on your telephone dial”) but I hate having to say anything aloud.

So please, please don’t anybody make a chess clock that can understand voice commands. Enough is enough.

Bill Smythe

[jws555]

@wilecoyote

@jwiewel

@jjamesge1

@kbachler

10 years from now all (new digital) clocks will be set by voice.

Powered by Alexa

Just wait until two people on different schedules/different time controls are standing near each other using voice commands. The last one to speak sets both clocks to the same time control.

The user should be able to assign a name to the clock to use as the trigger word instead of “Alexa.” I will name mine “Murphy.”

No, no, no. Name it Morphy!

Regards,
John

[kevin_bachler]

@wilecoyote

@jwiewel

@jjamesge1

@kbachler

10 years from now all (new digital) clocks will be set by voice.

Powered by Alexa

Just wait until two people on different schedules/different time controls are standing near each other using voice commands. The last one to speak sets both clocks to the same time control.

The user should be able to assign a name to the clock to use as the trigger word instead of “Alexa.” I will name mine “Murphy.”

Does it spin the gun before it holster’s it?

[Moogy]

@bruce_leverett

This thread is describing a weird situation – a huge tournament with hundreds or perhaps thousands of participants who don’t know how to set their clocks (and TD’s who don’t know either). How did we get to this point? I hope that it is a temporary phenomenon, and that eventually there will be some kind of consolidation or standardization in the chess clock business so that everybody knows how to set his own clock. (In the olden days, all clocks were analog, and everybody knew how to set them, without having to read the instructions, if there even were instructions.)

An interesting variation of the problem that I observed this past weekend at the Southwest Open in Dallas: Older guy (65-70?) was paired with a young kid (7-8?) in the Novice section. Kid doesn’t have a clock. His opponent says, “My clock is an analog,” and pulls out an ancient BHB. Kid’s parent is nearby, and says, “He doesn’t know how to use that kind of clock.” Dad leaves to try to find a better clock to borrow. (He should have gone next door to the vendor and bought one.) Adult player attempts to explain, demonstrating how the flag goes up and then falls. Kid seemed very confused. Explanation is complicated by the time controls of 90 + 30 sec. increment, so the flag will fall twice if the game uses much time.

I got busy with my own game and never saw which clock they actually played on.

[jjamesge1]

@Moogy

@bruce_leverett

This thread is describing a weird situation – a huge tournament with hundreds or perhaps thousands of participants who don’t know how to set their clocks (and TD’s who don’t know either). How did we get to this point? I hope that it is a temporary phenomenon, and that eventually there will be some kind of consolidation or standardization in the chess clock business so that everybody knows how to set his own clock. (In the olden days, all clocks were analog, and everybody knew how to set them, without having to read the instructions, if there even were instructions.)

An interesting variation of the problem that I observed this past weekend at the Southwest Open in Dallas: Older guy (65-70?) was paired with a young kid (7-8?) in the Novice section. Kid doesn’t have a clock. His opponent says, “My clock is an analog,” and pulls out an ancient BHB. Kid’s parent is nearby, and says, “He doesn’t know how to use that kind of clock.” Dad leaves to try to find a better clock to borrow. (He should have gone next door to the vendor and bought one.) Adult player attempts to explain, demonstrating how the flag goes up and then falls. Kid seemed very confused. Explanation is complicated by the time controls of 90 + 30 sec. increment, so the flag will fall twice if the game uses much time.

I got busy with my own game and never saw which clock they actually played on.

I think it was in the 90’s the first stories of kids having no idea how to read an analog clock, not chess clock, started to surface.