I’m thinking about getting a Chronos “Touch Sensor” clock, but I want to get some feedback from someone who knows the differences between the Chronos II (the full-length clock) and the Chronos II GX “Blitz” (the smaller version). My main question is this: are there any functional differences between these clocks other than their sizes?
Obviously I would prefer the smaller GX “Blitz” version (it would fit easier into my chess bag). But I wouldn’t want to do this if it would mean giving up some of the function and time-control options. For example, my kids like to play on the “hour glass” feature of a clock I already have; I know the full-length Chronos has this, but does the GX “Blitz” ?
Some websites that I’ve visited say there are no differences – others will hint that there are some differences, but don’t say what they are.
Anyone with knowledge who can provide some guidance will be greatly appreciated.
The second post sums up the difference: Blitz has only 12 presets and the instruction sheet is only 2 sides of a sheet of paper.
Poster mentions that the 12 presets is all you’ll ever need for tournament play. I haven’t played in a tournment with multiple time controls since the 80’s.
I need to mention though, when I did play with multiple time controls, it was just the monthly “single game” tournment for rating points that took all year to actually finish. I loved the time controls. Havent found a single person willing to do it since though.
First Time Control: 90min for 30 moves
Second Time Control: 60 min for 20 moves
Third Time Control: Sudden Death 30 minutes.
Ahh, that was a fun time. I was in the Army then. After I that, everybody just wanted to play faster and faster time controls. I’m lucky if I can get (in OTB play) someone to even play a 15min game. I live in a rural area with a fairly small number of players, so most would rather play 5min games and get a chance to play everybody in the club at least once during the night.
I own the Chronos (not the II) and all (?) 3 versions of the Blitz with touch-sensors. In my opinion, all are exceptional chess clocks are you really can’t go wrong with either. However there are some minor differences.
Here are the Blitz features:
In my opinion, this is all that a tournament chess player would ever need. It also includes the ability to have delay, increment, or final delay. I am not sure (since I don’t own the Chronos II) if those features are also available on the Chronos II.
You’ll notice that the “hourglass” setting is not listed. That is not available on the Blitz, so if that is a selling point for you may want to consider the Chronos II instead.
Both House of Staunton and American Chess Equipment sell bags that can hold the Chronos clock. Both the smaller “Standard Tournament Bag” and larger “Deluxe Tournament Bag” from House of Staunton can hold the Chronos Clock.
American Chess Equipment sells a variety of chess bags. Double check the description to make sure it says it can hold a Chronos Clock.
Regular Chronos can numerically count down the delay, and display tenths of a second. Blitz doesn’t have the LCD room, so must use an alternating hash mark for the delay. I’m unsure if the Blitz can display hours, minutes, and seconds like the larger version. Both will generate shuffle chess positions.
It really comes down to whether you want size or options.
Thanks for the info! That is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. I played at a club yesterday, and someone there had one of the full-length Chronos II. Yes, it does fit into my bag (no, I didn’t steal his!), so that’s the route I’ll probably go.
But one last question: when I got home yesterday, I did some more info surfing in another forum. Some posters said that the “metal sensor” version does not have any audible “beep” when you hit the button (versus the “black button” version where you at least hear a “click”). Other posters seemed to claim that that the “metal” version does have this feature, but that it may be “off” on default, and you have to turn it back on. Again, which is it?
Personally, I would probably prefer the “beep.” Most tournaments I play are not large events that use banquet-style tables, forcing adjacent games to be played in close proximity. Rather, most of my play is at coffee houses, and we’re spread throughout the shop in such a way that the “beeps” from my game wouldn’t be annoying to other players. I just think that an audible confirmation would be nice to have, without having to divert my eyes to actually look at the diodes & time on the clock.
The old version you can hear a click from the button and a beep.
The beep sound and the pitch/volume–the higher the pitch, the louder the beep–are customizable. This should be a feature in the Regular Touch and the Blitz Touch. This can also be customized based on your time control setting. As example, I have a low beep for 5min setting and no beep for long time controls. You can also customize the beep and light behavior when one side runs out of time. Not complicated to set these things when you cycle through the options.
The poster who said the metal-sensor version makes no sound while the black-button version does, was simply referring to the click made by the black buttons. This has nothing to do with the optional beep-on-move feature available on both versions.
IF you have a Chronos with the sensors you can tone the beep down to the point that it sounds almost like a click. You do have to make sure that you press the sensor with your fingers and not say a chess piece for it to register.
How do I get fischer time on the chronos clock? (not blitz clock).
Every description I see on the internet for the Chronos clock states that it suppots controls that add time every move.
So far, it seems like the clock has 50 different ways to use time delay, but not bonus time per move.
I’ve read the manual twice and can’t seem to find any mode that supports it.
EDIT: I finally figured it out: Progressive mode 1. (CH-P1). Then I had to adjust the time from 40 moves in 2 hours to 1 move in 2min, then had the progressive time control as 12 seconds in 1 move. Hence 2min +12 seconds per move.
I figured it out. I used CH-P1 (what FIDE modes are based on) and tweaked that.
The problem is the Chronos manual never states you can add time per move, so you have to muddle around till you figure it out.
Take progressive mode and make it 1 move to make the first time control, then the 2nd time control do the same thing, but change the time control to how much added time per move you want. In my case, I wanted 2min to start, and then add 12 seconds per move.
Time control 1: 2min to make 1 move.
Time control 2 (progressive): 12 seconds to make 1 move.
P-1 is the base progressive mode, 1 time control.
P-2 has three time controls
P-3 has a maximum time of 9:59, for Blitz.
P-4 base setting is 2+12, but doesn’t record move numbers.
P-5 same as P-4, but allows max time setting of 9:59:59.
P-6 two time controls.
P-7 three time controls.
P-8 four time controls, fourth repeats infinitely.
Anyway, P-4 would be the setting I’d use, if I were looking for 2+12, since it’s the default setting for it anyway.
The odd thing is that I’ve had a Chronos for about ten years now… but still haven’t figured it all out yet. Just the parts I need.
If so, let’s have more engineering professors designing chess equipment.
Instructions are another matter. I remember the instructions, written in English by a Japanese, for an old reel-to-reel tape recorder: “When recording, adjust volume, looking at the meters. When playing back, adjust volume, listening to the speakers.” It helps if you read that quote in a Japanese accent.
