I just received my 6th edition book. I’m working on becoming a club director. There are no local chess clubs and we’ve got one up and going. It should be an official affiliate by August 30th with 6-8 USCF members recently.
I’m reading the book and sort of confused by standard time. If I do a SD/35 (35 minutes to each player) with no increments, delay, etc… would this be considered a standard game since the combined overall total is 70 minutes?
What would be the proper way to advertise this? SD/35?
The time for one player is counted to determine the time control. 35 (sum of minutes of one person’s time control plus seconds of delay) falls in the 30 to 65 range and thus is dual rated.
G/35;d# (where # is the number of second of delay, possibly zero) is the proper way to state the time control.
Please don’t even consider running a tournament with neither delay nor increment. It can lead to ridiculous time scrambles, where the clock alone decides the outcome.
For G/35 I’d recommend a 5-second delay or 5-second increment. (G/35 d5, or G/35 inc5.) Or, if you’re worried about the extra 5 seconds stretching out the length of the rounds too much, make it G/30 d5, or G/30 inc5.
Hi Bill. Unfortunately we just have the analog clocks, a couple of people have digital. We’re a small community in Appalachia and I provide the boards, pieces, and clocks for a majority of the players. In turn they have joined the USCF and are buying their own equipment as they can. At this time I am unable to replace the analog clocks with digital. Is there a way to do emulate or do something via analog clock?
You could call it G/35;d5 and the people with analog clocks would simply play G/35 (with no delay because the clocks don’t have any). You could go with G/35;d0 and use your analog clocks for that, and let the players know about the 14H claims (insufficient losing chances) with the couple of digital clocks saved to resolve them (assuming the automatic draw offer isn’t simply accepted immediately).
Note that there are three rating systems (blitz, quick and regular) and four different rating ranges (up through 10 is blitz, more than 10 and less than 30 is quick, 30 through 65 is dual - which means it is rated in both the quick and regular systems, and over 65 is regular only).
If you are looking for a regular rating then G/30;d0 is enough to get one (and it will also get a quick rating). If you want to avoid quick (for some reason) then G/66;d0 (or more) will do that.
Hey, thanks for all the replies very helpful. I’m perusing the book each night and I may be asking questions on here. On August 30th, hopefully we’ll become an affiliate, then I can do the club director.
Here is our site, it’s not really mean to be public until Sept 1, but I figured I’d throw it on here.
As long as time controls are being explained, there is one question a number of new directors need answered. If there are multiple time controls (such as 40/90, 30/60, SD/30;d5) the first pair of numbers (40/90) are the initial number of moves (40) that have to be completed by the initial number of a player’s minutes (90) while the next set (30/60) is the next set of moves (30) that have to be completed by the end of the next set of minutes (60) that were added to the time remaining from the first set of minutes (90).
So if white spent 80 minutes (had 10 left over) on the first 40 moves and black spent 50 minutes on the first 40 moves (had 40 left over) then the left over time is added to the time the new time control brings, meaning white would have 70 minutes (60 plus the left over 10) to reach move 70 (40 from the first control plus 30 from the second control) while black would have 100 minutes (60 plus the left over 40).
Let me echo Jeff Wiewel’s suggestion to specify a delay and simply not use it on analog clocks. I am sympathetic to the necessity of players in an underserved area playing with what they have on hand. That said, delay has become standard for very good reasons, and delay capable clocks have been standard equipment for two decades now. Visiting players will expect it, and inexperienced players will become converts. As your club gains resources, I would suggest some delay capable clocks (I recommend the DGT North America) would be a wise investment.
Also, to everyone we’re an affiliate now, and I’m a club TD with another member becoming a TD and we have a website! I’m excited that it’s coming together.
Shipping Method:
United States Postal Service - Priority Mail
Item Sku Qty Subtotal
DGT North American Digital Chess Clock CLKDNA-B-CLKDNA 1 $49.95
Includes
1 x DGT North American Digital Chess Clock $0.00 CLKDNA
Subtotal $49.95
Shipping & Handling $8.85
Discount (gift5) -$5.00
Grand Total (Excl.Tax) $53.80
I would suggest becoming very familiar with the “no losing chances” rule. You as a director may be called on to decide positions if there is no delay clock available. Without delay, it does not matter how much time you provide initially because there will be those who will use almost all of their time. In the old days I used to see lots of time-pressure addicts. And then they would get mad when the ref (tournament director) didn’t rule in their favor. Depending on the type of analog clocks you have maybe you could possibly find a collector to trade them for some inexpensive and reliable digital clocks. If not, I wish you the best of luck and skill reenacting the good old days of “no losing chances” chess.
Well, the good news is, things have gotten a bit better since I originally posted this. One member who signed up has a digital clock and I bought one, and I think a couple of other have one or two now.
That does not surprise me at all. Now that you are running tournaments in your area, the digital revolution will catch on quickly there, just as it has everywhere else.