US Chess Rule 16B2

Running Chess Tournaments
1

US Chess rule 16B2 states:

“Time delay or increment clocks should be set according to the manufacturer’s directions so that any visual device used to indicate that a player’s time has been exhausted for all time control periods is activated. Such mechanisms may include one or more of a light, a display of all zeros, or a display of a flag. Players should explain the flag fall mechanism and the clock’s operation to their opponents. The time delay or increment should be set according to the director’s instructions, with the time delay or increment in force starting at move one (5E1) unless the time control specifies otherwise. Clocks equipped to do so should be set for a Bronstein or a delay mode for delay controls or for Fischer, added time, or increment mode for increment time controls.”

The term “bonus” is one of the most commonly used terms chess clocks use for “increment” these days so we should add the term “bonus” in the rule above. We should also change the term “time delay or increment clocks” to “digital clocks” so it includes all digital clocks, not just those with delay or increment capability.

Improved version of US Chess Rule 16B2 (I’m sure it could still be improved some more but here is a start):

“Digital clocks should be set according to the manufacturer’s directions so that any visual device used to indicate that a player’s time has been exhausted for all time control periods is activated. Such mechanisms may include one or more of a light, a display of all zeros, or a display of a flag. Players should explain the flag fall mechanism and the clock’s operation to their opponents. The time delay or increment should be set according to the director’s instructions, with the time delay or increment in force starting at move one (5E1) unless the time control specifies otherwise. Clocks equipped to do so should be set for a Bronstein or a delay mode for delay controls or for Fischer, bonus, added time, or increment mode for increment time controls.”

2

As there does exist older digital clocks that don’t do delay or increment I do not think you should use "digital’, rather change the start to “time delay or bonus/increments clocks”. In my experience “bonus” time [& increment] is usually described as added or extra time, that is why it is usually abbreviated as + [G/90, +30i]. Also, please remember that a digital clock has preference over an analog clock, even if both clocks don’t do delay or increment/bonus time.

Larry Cohen

3

The fact that there are digital clocks that don’t do increment or delay is the whole point behind changing the wording at the beginning of the rule from “Time delay or increment clocks” to “digital clocks” since the first two sentences of the rule should apply to all digital clocks, not just digital clocks with increment or delay capability.