At a recent tournament, my very young opponent had a DGT 960 clock. That’s the little tiny red folding clock. He had black, so he got the choice of equipment. Our time control was 90 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds. Before the game started, I asked if it was set for increment, and he said it was. The clock did not show seconds, only minutes. I could not tell if it was really set correctly. As the game started, I tried to judge whether it was set correctly, but I could not tell. Neither of us ever went over 90 minutes, which often happens with fast opening moves. I eventually asked a TD, who simply asked the young player if it was set for increment and took his word for it. At that point, I gave up the issue.
Can someone familiar with this clock tell me if it can display seconds? Is there another way I can tell if the increment is being used correctly?
The main time on this clock is large enough, but all other items on the display are tiny. At one point, my opponent spent several minutes on his own time standing up and wiggling about. I thought he was just being a typical young player. I didn’t realize that he didn’t know it was his turn to move during his gyrations. It was his clock, and even he couldn’t easily tell whose clock was active! The move indicator on this clock is a very small arrow that appears adjacent to the time of the player on move.
I will never buy this clock, but I hope someone here can explain the display to me, in case I have a future opponent with this clock.
One option you can use that will work with almost any clock. If your opponent says it has increment, simply have them show you. Either by reviewing the settings with you or… Actually pressing the clock buttons back and forth quickly so that you can see it accumulating time. Then when you are assured it is working correctly, simply turn off the clock and back on again and it should reset to the settings at the start.
If it is not correct, then hand it back to the player and tell them to set it correctly, then verify again. If they can’t set it correctly, then even if they are black, you can use your clock.
It is mathematically easier to determine if a clock has increment as opposed to if a clock has delay (the increment is always added while the delay is not always used). The number of moves shows how much time should be added by increment, so add that time to the original starting time on each clock and then see if the difference to the actual time matches the elapsed time of the round. Ten moves into the game should be plenty to see whether or not the elapsed time matched tied out to the time shown on the clock.
Really? You told the TD that you didn’t think that the clock was set correctly and the TD’s sole investigation was to ask your opponent if the clock was set correctly? This is the sort of misconduct that ought to be reported to TDCC.
Note that Messrs. Wiewel and Langland’s suggestions are not likely to be useful with this TD.
To discuss the clock, it is really very unsatisfactory. Most unsatisfactory is that it can’t be set for multiple time controls. There is only one person in my area who owns one, so the problem is minimal here. It seems that the only advantage to this clock is if someone wishes to automatically determine positions for Fischer Random Chess. It is also very easy to flip.
I’m not sure that the TD’s actions in this case rise to the level (sink to the level?) of something that should be investigated by the TDCC, but they clearly were not best. At what level was this TD certified? If this is a beginning club TD, then rather than hit him over the head by dragging him before the TDCC a friendly discussion might be both easier and more productive. Even if this is a higher level TD, I don’t think this merits more than a discussion with the TD. If the discussion is unproductive, then some further action may be warranted. In that case, though, instead of going straight to the TDCC I would have a talk with the organizer about the possibility of hiring a different TD for future events.
I think that Mr. Parker is confused about what would likely happen with TDCC. What would likely happen is that the TD would get a letter explaining proper procedure. If this is a symptom of a bigger problem then it would be on record, and there is no reason to believe the TD would handle other situations properly. Otherwise it is entirely possible that the TD could bounce around from organizer to organizer causing problems not large enough to make a big deal about but large enough not to come back for. I find that unacceptable.
One could credibly argue that a DGT960 is less standard than most alternatives with credible market share on the grounds that it does not clearly indicate which side is on move (presuming proper operation of the clock).
Were I White and Black insisted on using a DGT960, I would make this argument before the game. Were I a TD presented with this claim, I would find for White and feel quite comfortable defending an appeal.
The DGT960 is a toy that belongs nowhere near a sanctioned chess game.
I appreciate the input about this clock. I would like defend the TD a bit, since he might see this posting! It is possible that I didn’t present the problem to the TD as clearly as I did here. I was rather rattled toward the end of a long, hard tournament, and I said that it was ok after the TD questioned the young player. TD might have pursued it further had I given more information.
I will certainly try to convince any future opponent who presents this clock to use my Chronos instead. I can always use as a reason that my old eyes can’t see the tiny display on his clock.
I am pleased to hear that others find this clock unsatisfactory also. I had no prior experience with it, and we were into the game before I started noticing problems.
This would have been especially easy since the increment was 30 seconds. After two (or at most three) quick button press pairs back and forth, the clock should have added at least a full minute.
If the increment were 5 seconds instead of 30, you would have had to press the buttons back and forth at least 12 times before you’d see the minute added.
Given your experience, I have a hunch that most TDs, aside from the increment question, would likely rule the clock sub-standard and let you use your own.
I’m not confused about what the likely outcome of a TDCC investigation would be. It’s just that I don’t think that every mistake made by a TD, especially a beginning TD, merits a formal investigation. If people were told before they signed up to be Club TD’s that each and every time someone thought they had erred they would face a formal investigation and a black mark on their permanent record if found guilty how many people do you think would want to be TD’s?
If I enter a tournament run by a beginning Club TD, I have the right to expect that the TD will act ethically and will do his or her best, but that is all I can reasonably expect. If in this case the TD makes what I believe to be a mistake, then the first thing I would do is try to talk to the TD about it. Unless it is a truly egregious mistake demonstrating gross incompetence, and I don’t consider this case to be one, that’s as far as I would take it unless this talk is unproductive.
5F7. Players responsible for knowing how to set the clock.
Players, not tournament directors, are responsible for knowing how to properly set their digital clocks. In any particular game, if the player providing the clock can not properly set the clock, the opponent may choose which legal clock is to be used. See also 16B, How to set clocks.
That may be intended for Scrabble. As I understand it, in Scrabble, if you use up all your main time, you don’t lose the game, but points get deducted from your score for each minute (or fraction) of “overtime” you use.
But weren’t you once a big fan of count-up mode anyway? – for example, setting the clock initially to 4:00:00 (for a control of 2 hours) and letting it count forward to 6:00:00, just as on an analog clock.
On the 960 it seems as though you could set it initially for 1 second, let it count down to zero instantly, then start counting up, thus displaying total elapsed time for the game.
This clock displays the seconds only when you get under a certain amount of time. If I remember correctly I think the time when seconds are shown is when the clock is under 10 minutes.
Please remember that as one of the cheaper clocks that does DELAY and INCREMENT it is attractive to many of the parents. They can buy one of these for $35-40 compared to paying $50-70 for a DGT NA or ZMartFun chess clock. Not everyone can afford the Chronos or on of my clocks!
Hi Bill:
Great memory. That mode shows your remaining time as an analog clock will. This both avoids the question of when the clock will add extra time and/or clock press problems unless using increment which is a separate question.