I have very limited experience with the newest DGT (if memory serves, the seconds start getting displayed when the time goes under 20 minutes), but I think you can set the delay independently for each of the 1, 2 or 3 time controls. That flexibility could result in the first time control having the delay on and giving a false sense of comfort to a player that gets shocked to suddenly see that the SD time control does not have the delay.
If somebody has more experience with it then feel free to correct me.
Delay (non-cumulative addback) was developed in the USA, at about the same time increment (cumulative addback) was developed worldwide. Both were designed to solve roughly the same problems. FIDE endorses increment rather than delay, so many clocks manufactured abroad (such as the DGT) thumb their noses at delay, implementing only a poor-man’s version of it (such as Bronstein, and/or with 1 control only, and/or with various other anomalies).
why then do i see so many of the DGT clocks being used by top GMs here in the US (the top boards which are broadcast)? are they using the Bronstein delay only in the sudden death time control and not in the primary time control? how can they if its against USCF policy? or are they actually setting the primary as sudden death and then pausing at the end of the primary time control to reset it for a second sudden death time control in order to use bronstein the whole game long?
bronstein is fine, i got turned off to this clock because it couldnt be used for all time controls (as discussed in this thread). are you all absolutely sure bronstein can only be used during sudden death control on the DGT XL???
I have just purchased the DGT XL and I’m not sure I’m understanding the problem being discussed here. I can set it to have a Bronstein delay for the entire primary time control. When that time control passes, the secondary time control will be added on to the clock and play will proceed with a Bronstein delay (which can be different than the delay for the first time control).
Yes, I believe that you are right. My cousin owns a DGT XL and sometimes we play training games with the controls 30/30 SD 30. Both the primary and secondary time controls can have Bronstein delay without manually resetting the clock (we play delay 2 seconds).
As for the DGT 2000, I have never used it so I cannot say.
In my earlier statements regarding the ability to set the delay mode was based on the DGT 2000. That clock cannot be set with delay as the primary control in a multiple time control game.
However, I see that in the instruction manual for the DGT XL (on line at dgtprojects.com/clock_dgtxl.htm) I now see a description on the last page:
It sounds like we were mistaken, and that Bronstein may be set for multiple periods on this version of the clock. Would someone with that clock please confirm this?
It does sound like you have to set each time control seperately with bronstein, and save the settings as a “user” default, but it can be done?
I apologoize if I misled anyone concerning this feature. As I stated, I do not own the XL models.
What about the Saitek II? Can anyone confirm (or deny) its capability in this regard?
If you have bought a DGT XL recently, or are about to buy one, it should work great. This is one of the best clocks out there.
If you have version 1.10 or lower, there are some bugs when programming more than one period with delay. A particular one I have experienced is that, if the secondary time control is added (when a player reaches zero), and the opponent hits the clock before the delay is finished, the clock will lose the secondary time control it just added. This is just a minor inconvenience, as the flag fall will force an obviously incorrect claim or manual readjustment. Even having a model with this bug, I wouldn’t trade my clock for anything (well, except for a newer version of the same clock).
To avoid complications, I manually reset the clock after the time control move has been reached.
In short, make sure you buy version 1.12 or up. Ask the retailer.
the dgt website shows a bug list for this clock. for versions 1.14, 1.12, and 1.10 it shows only 1 bug. for version 1.4 it shows 6 bugs.
wholesalechess.com is saying version 1.4 is the newest version (makes sense since its the highest number) and that version 1.10 is the version that was recalled. is the newest version the one with the most bugs. i emailed dgt, but no response.
Well, from some of the other posts it looks as though the latest versions are OK.
I have noticed, though, that owners of DGT and Saitek clocks seem more likely to set their clocks without the delay turned on, than are owners of Chronos clocks. I don’t know why this would be (maybe my sample is just too small) unless some (earlier) versions of these models aren’t full-featured enough to do the whole job.
I couldn’t find the wholesachess.com info, but they’ve got it wrong if it is the way you said. The newest version is 1.14. The version recalled was 1.4 and it was exchanged with 1.10. But the recall only went until sometime last year, I think.
In the September issue of Chess Life, on page 42 is the advertisement of the ‘Chess Timer Silver.’ The advertisement says it is the easiest clock on the market. Advertisement like that, makes me wonder if it has time delay, or it is just a clock that runs down to zero. Since I have never seen a clock like this, anyone knows what it can do.
Here's a link to the manual for the ChessTimer Silver:
[eurochessinternational.com/h ... glisch.pdf](http://www.eurochessinternational.com/html/BA%20englisch.pdf)
Tony
Hi everyone, I just purchased the DGT XL and received it by UPS today. Yeah it can be set manually to pretty much any setting you want. It is not very complicated, but for someone who did not read the manual, it might seem sort of confusing.
Yes, I am confirming that you can play Bronstein Delay for more than one time control consecutively. So the XL should not have any conflicts with the USCF delay time regulations.
Bronstein is fine, it would be best to inform your opponent before the start of the game, that the clock set at Bronstein. If I had a dollar for every time a spectator runs up to me, just to say some clock is not right. Bronstein mode, spectators love to point and ask questions.
My son had purchased this clock about three years ago and we lost the manual. Setting it for G/30 was easy for the scholastic events, but now he’s getting into the more complicated time controls and without the manual it’s hard to figure out exactly how to do this, so this is VERY helpful!
There is a link to it from the USCF website in a very odd place–go to tournaments/tournament directors information/scroll down to “Rules, Updates and Suspensions”. Click on “Mike Atkins’ Page on Using Digital Clocks”. That’s because Mike was good enough to set up the webpage those several years ago.
It needs some updating as soon as I can get around to it but I wanted to mention here that both the DGT XL and the Saitek II (the silver model) have user modes that can be set quite easily using the Bronstein delay throughout all time controls from the first move on. Personally, I have always liked the DGT for several reasons and this latest model was developed specifically for the US method of time delay which is not used much in other countries but becoming more popular.
Yes, but you have to do it manually, according to the page you pointed us to:
This is what e4e5 said earlier on this thread. You have to pause the clock and add one hour manually, which seems very awkward. So no, e4e5, you were not mistaken. The Chronos are far better than the DGT clocks for USCF tournaments.
If you choose DELAY for the first time control, the DGT XL clock won’t even ask you how many moves you have to make to reach the second time control! What this means is that the second time control will start only after the player’s time has run out! Please check this carefully. For example, if you’re playing 40/2 followed by 1hr and you run out of time on move 32 the DGT XL clock will add 1 hour to your time instead of signaling that you’ve lost on time!
Apparently DGT numbers its versions according to the physical appearance of the digits after the decimal point, not according to the total value of the version number.
What else could the clock do, if it’s not counting moves? It would be much better to assume that the game has entered the second control rather than to assume that there has been a time forfeit.
If there HAS been a time forfeit, the opponent will simply have to claim it. I assume the clock indicates, in some way, whether it is in the 1st or 2nd control. If it’s in the 2nd control with less than 1:00:00 remaining, and fewer than 40 moves have been played, obviously there has been a time forfeit.
At least, that’s how the Chronos does it, in its non-move-counting modes. There is a differently-placed hyphen in the 2nd control than in the 1st.
