I was wondering if there are any time settings which are against the USCF rules. A couple of years ago, I talked to a guy at a local chess club. He said that it was “illegal” (as per the USCF rules) to use the move-counting function. Normally, I wouldn’t worry about this, but the tournament I want to join uses the function in question ( 40 moves in 100 minutes is the first time setting). Is there a commonly accepted alternative to this time setting? Thanks.
–Mark
“illegal” is not an accurate word. For that matter “move-counting” is a questionable term since what is actually counted are clock-punches.
Many TDs prefer that the counting function be turned off so that an erroneously missed or extra clock punches do not muddy up the situation and trigger the next time control too early or too late. Some clocks do not have a counter at all. However, unless the TD explicitly states that the counter cannot be turned on, it is quite legal to have the counter on.
If you use the counter then be aware that:
a missed clock punch can cause somebody to appear to flag when the time control had actually been made;
an extra clock punch cause the time for the second time control to be added early and deceive a player into thinking more time is available for moves;
some clocks automatically determine that one side is the starting player and putting that side on white means that when white has made the final move of the time control then time is added to both sides even though black has not yet made the time control (an extremely critical USAT East match was decided because the person playing black flagged because of not realizing the time should not yet have been added).
Recap: the “guy” was in error about it being “illegal” to use a counter but as far as I’m concerned it is preferable to turn the counter off.
You can’t use the move counter on a clock as evidence that the right number of moves has not been made in the allotted time. You need to use an accurate scoresheet for that claim. There are all sorts of reasons a clock’s move counter can be off (like one player pressing the clock when he should not have; thus, messing up the move count, or not pressing the clock when he should have, or …)
On the other hand, the move counter is 100 percent accurate when the players operate the clock properly, which should be a reasonable presumption. Further, there are all sorts of reasons a scoresheet can be off.
It is true that a move counter cannot be used by itself to support a time claim. It is also true that a move counter can provide evidence that a scoresheet used to support a time claim is incorrect. This has happened to me more than once:
Player: I’ve won on time; my scoresheet says we’ve only played 38 moves.
Me: But the clock says 40. When were the extra presses?
Player: Uhhhh . . .
Reconstruction usually indicates that the scoresheet cannot be right, and the position on the board can only be right if the the number of moves indicated by the clock has been made.
Summary: Move counters are not bad, and are, in fact, really, really useful if the players operate the clock properly. The nightmare stories folks have told about move counters invariably stem not from the counters, but from the players failing to operate the clock properly. It is perfectly valid not to have sympathy for these players.
Finally, the claim that move counters are prohibited under US Chess rules is utter nonsense.
“42.B2 Move counters. Clocks with move counters are legal. The counter offers impartial assistance to both players, but its count may not be used to support or defend against a time-forfeit claim…”
So: legal, yes; can be used as evidence, no.
Some TDs dislike the move counter, for their own reasons. Then again, some TDs forget that the TDs are there for the players, not the other way around. And some players prefer to have the move counter turned on.
It’s a double-edged sword. For me as a player, it’s a comforting feeling to see the move count, and to see the clock add 30 minutes (or whatever the secondary control is) when I press the clock after move 40.
I’m accommodating, though. If it’s a tournament where the players furnish the clocks, and if it’s my clock, and if (before the game begins) my opponent says he’d rather have the move counter turned off, I will gladly switch the clock to a mode where it does not count moves.
I could easily envision the following scenario. The time control is 40/90 SD/30; d/5. I am assigned the black pieces. I arrive five minutes early and set up the pieces and my Chronos clock. My opponent arrives two minutes later (still three minutes early) and the following conversation ensues. My opponent’s words are in red, mine are in blue:
Um, I see you have the move counter turned on. I prefer it turned off, so that I can see the entire display (h:mm:ss) at all times.
OK, I’ll set the clock to a different mode where it doesn’t count moves. Be advised, though, that in this mode, the clock will not add 30 minutes after move 40. Instead, it will add 30 minutes only after the entire first 90 minutes is used up.
That’s fine with me. I reset the clock. We shake hands. Game begins.
Move 36. Opponent is down to 10 seconds main time. Blitzes out a move without using up any of his 5-second delay. I, having more time, respond at my leisure.
Move 37. Same. Move 38. Same. Move 39. Same.
Move 40. Opponent again blitzes out a move and presses his clock.
Hey, I’ve made move 40. The clock was supposed to add 30 minutes.
Don’t worry. As I explained at the beginning, the clock will add 30 minutes as soon as you use up the rest of your original time. Relax – you’ve made the time control. You can slow down now.
Opponent grumbles, but says nothing more. At my leisure, I play my own 40th move and press my clock.
Opponent, still seeing 10 seconds of main time, blitzes out his 41st move and presses his clock.
Hey, the clock still didn’t add 30 minutes. What’s going on here?
I just told you, the clock will add time when your original time counts down to zero. You have 30 minutes to play the rest of the game. Please relax.
The scene continues, with my opponent blitzing out 3 more moves in a desperate attempt to beat the non-existent 10-second deadline. Finally, after playing my 44th move at my leisure, instead of pressing my clock I pause both clocks.
OK, please listen up. You have plenty of time. We have an interesting game going on here. Please don’t ruin it by blitzing when you don’t have to. You still have 30 minutes to finish the game. Got it?
Okay, okay. Start the clock.
Opponent blitzes out his 45th move, and I respond. On his 46th, he blitzes out a blunder. On my 46th, I leisurely play the refutation, and he realizes he is in deep doo-doo. Finally, he goes into a long think. His primary time counts down to zero, and the clock adds 30 minutes.
(sarcastically) I see the clock finally added 30 minutes.
Yep, just as I told you it would do.
3 moves later he is checkmated.
I wish the clock had added 30 minutes when I really needed it.
Maybe from now on you’d prefer to turn on the move counter?
Bill Smythe
Exactly whi I always use it if there is a secondary control. Of course on my Excalibur there is no display downside, and only extra clock punches can cause problems via a premature addition of the extra time.
This hypothetical interchange is completely ridiculous. Of course a player can always dream up a possible nightmare scenario. I can easily dream up one in which having the move counter turned on wreaks untold havoc.
Personally I don’t like having the move counter displayed. It cannot be used as evidence in the event of a time forfeit claim, and seems to me to be an unneeded distraction. But I don’t make a federal case out of it if an opponent is furnishing the clock and wants the move counter displayed. It’s just not that big a deal.
So here’s the question: what do you do if a player comes up to you (as TD) and says “I don’t know how to set my clock for this time control.”?
Alex Relyea
TD: "Hi, sets the clocks within ~30 seconds, okay save to number/mode #, good luck~! 
"
Player: But it has no move counter… [edit, no such thing as a move counter, button pressed counter]
TD: Well, that’s your problem then. if you want “me” to set the clock, that’s how I set it.
Player: But… but… that’s my favorite setting!
TD: I honestly don’t know how to set it with the move counter… and there’s 10 people in line here also want their clock set soooo sorry?
Best,
~Ybriang
Brian Yang
Option 1: “Since you don’t know how to set your clock, your opponent gets to use his clock.”
Option 2: “Since you don’t know how to set your clock, I’ll set it, the way I prefer.”
Both of the above are reasonable. I have no sympathy for a player who does not know how to set his clock. RTFM.
OTOH, a TD who demands (i.e. requires), in a two-control event, that the move counter be turned off – or, for that matter, one who demands that it be turned on – will be taken down a notch in my estimation.
(The above does not apply if the organizer supplies clocks for all games. In that case, the organizer or TD should pre-set all the clocks the way he wants.)
Going further, if the TD demands that the move counter be turned off (on), but the player knows only how to turn it on (off), and if the TD then says “Well then, use your opponent’s analog clock”, I will remove that TD from my acceptable list altogether, and report him to the TDCC.
The TDs are there for the players, not the other way around.
Bill Smythe
As a player, I don’t like move counters, and I always set my clock with no move counter. However, if I’m White and my opponent wants to use a clock with the move counter turned on, I have no problem with that – it’s his choice. As a TD, I wouldn’t even think of dictating a “move counter” policy. That’s entirely up to the players (with Black, as always, having preference as long as his clock is “standard”). If someone wants me to set his/her clock – usually, I can’t. I only know how to set clocks that I own, and even with some of them, I have to refer to the instructions. That’s why I always preset my clocks the night before the tournament starts. I’m not going to try to figure out how to set someone’s clock when the round is about to start. A player who buys a clock has the responsibility to learn how to set it. With all the different clocks out there, it’s unrealistic to expect the TD to know how to set all of them.
It. Is. A. Move. Counter. When. The. Clock. Is. Operated. Properly. One. Hundred. Percent. Of. The. Time.
Not only is it unrealistic to expect the TD to know how to set any clock that a player may bring in, by rule it is the player’s responsibility to be able to set his own clock, and to explain to his opponent and to the TD all relevant features of its operation. I just love the people who buy a clock from a tournament vendor, and then turn around, hand it to me, and ask me to set it for them. 
I don’t need to dream one up. I witnessed it in 2011 in the final round of the US Amateur Team East. The result on board one was determined because Black was late arriving at the board, and White simply started Black’s clock instead of following the correct procedure of starting his own clock, making his first move, and then starting Black’s clock.
The whole “40 moves in whatever” is a completely useless relic from the days of mechanical clocks, repeating time controls, and adjournments.
One time control for the whole game, please.
I remember that and it was ugly. numerous other less important problems at time control when people haven’t made moves, but have time added. That’s always fun to explain to parents.Your score sheet is the most important tool you have.
Which was a problem with the players failing to operate the clock properly, not a problem with move counters. If anything, the counter should have alerted the players that something was up in the first forty moves.
I agree
There’s something to be said for reserving a chunk of time for the endgame, which has suffered from lack of quality in the era of sudden death.
As a TD/Arbiter though, I agree that a single time control, with 30 second increment is the least prone to incident.
-Matt Phelps