"42E1. Recommended function of an increment clock.
a. The display alt all times should show the time available to complete a player’s next move (i.e. time added at the completion of a move).
b. In case of passing a time control, a sign on the display must give clear signal time has expired.
c. In case of accumulative or delay timing systems, the clock should not add any additional time if the player passed the last time control".
It’s strange that it calls increment “accumulative” timing here as I think this is the only case where the rulebook does so.
What do you think about making this section about the recommended function of digital clocks in general? Points “a” and “b” could apply to time controls with delay and time controls neither increment or delay as well.
A lot of perfectly good clocks do not show the total time available in delay mode, except indirectly, and I’m OK with this. I would not want to have to replace all my clocks just to accommodate this unnecessary (in my opinion) requirement. It makes more sense to show the total time in increment mode than in delay mode.
I’m leery of excessive requirements for clocks in general, especially if they keep changing – because every time you change the requirements, you risk making some clocks obsolete. Technology goes obsolete quickly enough as it is, without forcing obsolescence by fiat.
These wouldn’t be requirements, they would be recommendations.
An alternative would be to delete this rule all together once the “clock guide for manufacturers” document is written and published and simply mention that this document exists online.
Rule 42E1, as written, seems to be suffering from an identity crisis:
“Who am I talking to? Players? Organizers and TDs? Clock manufacturers?”
“Do I get to dictate which of two clocks to use, in case of dispute? Do I get to decide which of two clocks, neither of which meets the specs completely, should be preferred over the other?”
“Where did I come from? Some of me reads as though FIDE wrote me. But it also feels as though some of the guts have been stripped out of me. What else did I formerly say?”
“What about that long TD Tip? How much of it agrees with me? How much of it contradicts me? How much of me is so vague or incomplete that nobody can answer those questions?”
I realized that after I had posted. Still, one of them has the word “must” in it, which makes it sound like a requirement, and that makes me nervous. Delay and increment are two different things, and I feel strongly that they should be displayed differently on the clock (and not in such a subtle way that you have to watch for a number of moves to figure out whether it’s set for delay or increment – the difference should be obvious).