The "Standard" USCF Time Control

Running Chess Tournaments
1

When I first started playing chess in 1988 the standard time control was something like 40/80 then 15/30, 15/30.

With the coming of the digital, delay clocks in the mid to late 1990’s the more frequent and standard time control is something like G/80, 5 sec delay.

Recently Sevan Muradian has run a number of FIDE tournaments in the Chicago area using increment instead of delay.

The merits of using increment appear to be that the time scramble problem should not exist making it so the players can keep score throughout as well.

In our Peoria club we experimented by having a G/45, 30 sec inc, game last Monday evening. Taking 60 moves as a “standard” the time taken for a game at this control is about the same as a G/75 or G/80 with 5 sec delay.

Because the game wasn’t rated, most players didn’t play as slowly as they normally would. But in my game we took the longest and the time worked out just fine.

I also play in the Game 45 45 League on ICC where it is G/45 with 45 sec inc. I use my DGT board and set and actually keep notation as in a regular tournament game. I do this so I can have the tournament game experience (I work on Saturdays and don’t have any real opportunity to play Saturday tournaments). I think this increment is really the same as playing a slower, more standard delay time control.

Using increment, there would be fewer or no time scrambles needing a TD to observe every movement.

Before we scheduled our experiment, I talked with Sevan and he told me how nice G/90, 30 sec inc worked. This is equivalent or very similar to G/120, 5 sec delay.

As tournament directors and organizers, we are often wary to try something new and/or different in our tournaments. I know the next step for us is to schedule one of our Saturday events with increment. Perhaps I’ll do another get together tournament over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend with increment.

Anyway, what do you fine folk think about bringing increment in as part of our standard time controls?

2

Might work where most players have increment-capable clocks, wouldn’t work in Nebraska where over half of the clocks I see at tournament are analog clocks.

As an organizer, you’re free to do what you think will be successful in your tournaments, but please don’t try to force YOUR time control preferences on MY tournaments.

3

Mike has a point regarding the availability of increment capable clocks. This will be the major impediment of accepting increment as the standard.

I utilize increment and force everyone to use it (except where tournaments like the US G/60 and G/30 are not increment time controls), but I provide all of the equipment as well.

Personally this is a standard I think all organizers should employ, where they provide all equipment for their events. But that’s my personal opinion.

Additionally, I disagree that G/90 + 30/sec increment is the same as G/120 + 5/sec delay. The total time at 60 moves may be the same, but the games are very different games still. People handle their time differently with delay versus increment. So I wouldn’t use that comparison.

Another format to look at is G/30 with 30/sec increment or G/60 with 30/sec increment. I might test these ideas out over the summer.

4

Hey Nebraska! :open_mouth:

:bulb: US Amateur West in Tucson, AZ on May 29-31 has a time control of 40/2, 25/1. No delay, no Insufficient Losing Chances, no chance of me getting to bed before 1 AM! Analog clocks are just as standard as those fancy Chronos clocks! :bulb:

I’m just saying… :stuck_out_tongue:

  • Enrique
5

Sure you can get to bed before 1AM, just lose quickly (something I have plenty of experience with.)

6

I’m the Chief TD. I don’t get to go to bed until the last game is done each night. :wink:

  • Enrique
7

I’ve played in all four of the Grand Pacific Open tournaments up in Victoria, BC. They all used Game 90 with 30 second increment. Seemed an excellent time control to me. Because of the generous increment, they require you keep score, period – no bagging it when under “x” minutes.

8

I just played there for the first time this year. Sorry we didn’t cross paths. That was my first time playing that time control. I liked it a lot. I did flag in one game, but I was busted anyway. I refer to that as a clock resignation. :stuck_out_tongue:

For the most part I didn’t feel like I was getting into horrendous time pressure. I look forward to playing in some other tournaments with that time control.

9

A 30-second increment is great for 2 or 3 rounds per day. For 4 rounds (at, say, G/60) a 5-second delay is probably better. It all just depends on the nature of the tournament.

As for players without increment-capable clocks, don’t let that stop you. Just create an alternative for such games. Make sure the alternative is less attractive than the main option, to encourage players to furnish proper equipment. For example, with game/90 inc/30, games with analog clocks could be played at game/105 (rather than game/120).

What’s this with analog clocks remaining commonplace in so many places across the country? In the Chicago area they have virtually disappeared.

Bill Smythe

10

Organizers in most areas of the country do not wield the same iron fist as those in Chicago. In my observation, analog clocks are used in between a quarter an a third of games in Los Angeles tournaments. Less in scholastics, of course.

11

I tried GAME/105 + 30 seconds for the New England Open last year. I didn’t think it worked out well, having only one time control. It seemed that a lot of players like to take a break after reaching the first time control. This year the New England Open will be 40/90, SD/30 + 30 seconds. That just happens to be the same as the Canadian Open was last year. Hopefully I’ll like that better. Analog clocks will play 40/90, SD/60 which hopefully will be a disincentive to use an analog clock. For more information, please look at the bottom of the Connecticut listings.

Alex Relyea

12

Sevan, if G/90, 30 sec inc does not play the same as G/120, 5 sec delay, is there a comparable timing formula between increment and delay?

I also meant that from a TD point of view to look at the game playing time, the 2 were similar in 60 moves. I know that it is must be a different feeling to play under the two.

You have talked of how well the increment works for people. What is it about the increment that makes it nicer for some?

Last night Wayne and I experimented a bit more with the increment. I wanted to see what it was like to be under “time pressure” by having little time left on the clock. We started with G/5, 30 sec increment. We noticed with the increment the initial time starting on the clock was important. If there wasn’t enough time to begin with, there was quite a bit of a rush in the opening and early part of the middle game. I imagine that G/30, 30 sec inc would not feel as “leisurely” as G/60, 5 sec delay for this reason that there is not a lot of time in the “bank” in the first 15 - 20 moves. So a few long thinks can put a person in time trouble, early.

13

Does the increment start from the beginning? The way I’m reading it, it almost looks as though the increment doesn’t start until sudden death.

14

The increment is definitely in force starting with the first move. Set your Chronos for CH-P6. :slight_smile:

15

I already programmed it in before I went to Victoria, BC. However the organizers provided HOS sets and boards at every table along with increment capable clocks. They even provided sets and boards in the skittles room. I didn’t need my Chronos, though I would have preferred it over the provided clock. But wasn’t going to cause trouble by saying “That clock is a piece of #$%^, eh? We’ll play with the Chronos, eh?” :smiling_imp:

16

Not from a players perspective no. The formula is really only accurate from the organizers perspective for round timing purposes.

17

Maybe a slight change in punctuation and wording would have helped. Add a comma after SD/30, and say “inc” instead of “plus”:

40/90, SD/30, inc/30

Or maybe even

40/90, SD/30; inc/30

I thought “inc” was supposed to be the standard abbreviation for increment, anyway.

Bill Smythe

18

Iron fist?? Nobody in Chicago prohibits the use of analog clocks – except maybe Sevan Muradian, who does so by furnishing clocks.

Chicago may, however, have gotten off to an early start back in 1996 when the rule went into effect. Director Steve Szpisjak, at the club on Lunt Avenue, noticed this rule change only a few months after it was supposed to have gone into effect. After he noticed it, word got around among other TDs (although it took a little time).

Bill Smythe

19

You made it pretty clear in earlier discussions that TDs in your area made serious efforts to persuade/coerce players into switching to time-delay clocks (for their own good). I don’t agree with that policy, but it’s really between you and your players.

20

John, if you want us to take your opinion seriously you need to differentiate between Bill saying, at one time, that the TDs in the Chicago area convinced/coerced area players to buy delay capable clocks and people buying them without any coercion.

I live in Peoria which is a little over 2 1/2 hours southwest of the Chicago area. In our tournaments as well as the other Central Illinois tournaments, the digital/delay clocks are in the vast majority compared to the archaic analog clocks.

I was literally the first in the area to purchase a digital/delay clock. It was May of 1996 when the USCF offered the Excalibur GameTime I. It did not take long for others to see the merits of owning one of these type of clocks. Of course other brands and models came out and the delay clock slowly and pervasively took over the tournament chess scene over the next 6 - 8 years. David Long was/is one of the last hold outs proudly proclaiming he is a Luddite and LOVES his analog clock.

Anyway, the reality is that people became convinced, not coerced, to get one of these clocks.

Also, let’s take a simple look at reality. Digital delay clocks can now be had for well under $50. What’s the standard entry fee for a weekend tournament these days? So, for about the cost of 2 entry fees, a person can have a nice delay clock that will last them for many years.

By the way, thanks to Dennis Bourgerie and me, there is also a very nice increase in wooden chess sets and boards being used in out tournaments as well.

Perhaps you folk in California need to learn how to educate and sell people on good things in Chess.