Norway Chess time control

Running Chess Tournaments
1

Interesting: Players receive 2 hours for each classical game, with a 10-second increment only after move 40.

Would not work well for a large Swiss, as it requires resetting clocks after move 40. (I think…could this be pre-programmed on any of the popular clocks in use? Maybe, if you set it to 40/120 followed by SD/0, with increment set to 0 for the first control and 10 for the second control.)

But it’s interesting. Players may stop keeping score after move 40 with five minutes or less remaining.

So there could be mad time scrambles leading up to move 40, then incomplete scoresheets after move 40, to complicate claims.

Seems like G/120 with 10-second increment from move 1 makes more sense and keeps life simpler. Not sure why a control this relatively fast is used in a tournament with one game per day.

Will be interesting to see how this goes. Is this the first GM event to use this control, or have I missed it before?

2

Chronos CH-P1 looks like it will handle that.

3

I think you are right.

Now that I researched it, I see Norway Chess is trying Something New this year, to cut down on draws. Of course, all five games in the first round ended up drawn before going to Armageddon.

It’s an intriguing concept, but I wish increment would start from move one in both the standard games and Armageddon.

4

This is not the first time that increment in only the second [SD] time control has been used. I however can’t name any of the other tournaments.

Larry Cohen

5

Increment only in the final time control has been used often, including world championship matches.

What makes this different is that no main time is added after 40 moves, just a 10-second increment as of move 41. It is effectively a single control—G/120—but with increment only after 40 moves. Took me a minute to figure it out. It would pose a challenge setting some clocks to this control without the need to reset them at move 41.

The downside to not having increment or delay starting at move one was seen in the Aronian-Grischuk Armageddon game yesterday. Seconds left in sudden death, no increment, pieces flying…nonsense. No serious tournament game should end that way, not even blitz. (In Norway, increment for the Armageddon games starts at move 61.)

What Norway Chess is trying to do is interesting and maybe laudable. However, I wish the next time someone tries this, that increment starts at move one.

6

If the clock can do different increment in the two controls, you could set it for 40/120 inc/0, then SD/0:00:01 inc/10, and you’d be off by only 1 second. Or if 40/120 inc/0, SD/0:00:00 inc/10 works, not even that.

Bill Smythe

7

The 2013 FIDE Candidates Tournament, which Magnus Carlsen won, had a time control of 40 moves in 120 minutes, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, then SD/15, with increment only from move 61. GM Vassily Ivanchuk flagged in the first time control in several games.

The same time control was used in the 2014 FIDE Candidates Tournament, won by Anand.

Since 2016, the Candidates Tournaments began using 40/100, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, then SD/15, with increment from move 1.

8

I have little doubt that no matter how resourceful clock designers are, organizers will, sooner or later, come up with time controls that are difficult if not impossible to implement on those clocks without manual intervention.

9

The world is wising up.

Bill Smythe

10

How about G/90 inc/30 d/5, i.e. have both increment and delay at the same time.

Bill Smythe

11

I seem to recall the last time it was suggested someone cited a clock that could do both delay and increment simultaneously.

12

In theory you could set a clock for 1/90 1/0:00:30; d/5, i.e. 1 move in 90 minutes, followed by 1 move in 30 seconds indefinitely, with a 5-second delay throughout – provided that the clock can handle indefinite repeating controls with delay.

But almost all clocks, if a player flags, will stop running, at least for that player, and after that the clock will no longer award the 5-second delay for that player. So much for hoping to get away with a time forfeit that the opponent doesn’t notice.

Bill Smythe

13

The next world championship match will have no increment until the sudden death time control starting at move 61.

fide.com/FIDE/handbook/FWCM2020.pdf

14

The world is dumbing up.

Bill Smythe

15

Alternatively, we could hire someone to stand at each board, and count down 5…4…3…2…1… on their fingers and then push the clock button to start one’s clock.

16

US Open in Hawaii

17

Wasn’t that a fairly standard 2 segment time control that the provided clocks couldn’t handle? (Not exactly the best advertisement for a new clock).

18

As I recall, the “provided clock” was an old, old Saitek (dark gray case with hard-to-press buttons).

Bill Smythe

19

You may very well be right. Which still makes it a bad marketing move for the brand when you need (a TD) to reset clocks after move 40.

20

I was recently browsing the chess apps at the Amazon app store and to my surprise there were five or six “chess clock” apps designed to run on Amazon tablets. They should run on any android device, including phones. The apps have a range of features, ranging from simplistic to advanced offering delay, increment etc. I was wondering if anyone has seen them used at a tournament.

Arthur Holmer