I am an old timer and remember a time when nothing faster than G/60 was rated as classic/slow chess . There were neither delays nor increments back then either . I played my first rated chess in the spring of 1973 and have seen many changes since that time, most of them I do not like . I typically refuse to play in any event that is " dual rated " just on principle . I lived in Portugal for more than a decade and played a lot of rapid chess there. Most of the rapid events I played there were G/20 with no delays or increments .
This old timer sympathizes. I remember when 30/30 was the fastest time control, and they often called those events tornados because they were played at a whirlwhind pace.
To me the ideal event would be G/75;d5 with rounds 3 hours apart, which would permit 3 rounds on Saturday and 2 rounds on Sunday.
I’d always heard that 30/60 (or any time control with two minutes per move, so 40/80, 45/90, etc) was the fastest time control for a long while, but that was well before my time.
My recollection is that before SD, the rule was that you had to have at least one minute per move. The fastest time control I can remember from the 1970s was 30/30. I think the introduction of SD came in 1987 - G/60, for scholastic events only. Then it was expanded to open events as well the following year and G/30 was authorized. I might be a little off on the details but I’m very clear that the first SD control allowed was only for scholastics.
The 1974 edition of the USCF rulebook had these time control limitations:
The first time control must be no less than an hour. In a national event in each time control period there must be at least 2 minutes per move (30/1 hour). For a local or intermediate event, there must be at least 90 seconds per move (40/1 hour.)
I think 30/30 started in around 1975 or 1976. I remember playing in some 30/30 events in Evanston before moving to Nebraska in 1977.
D’oh! [slaps forehead]. What a concept - checking an actual rulebook.
The 1987 rulebook already has a full chapter on sudden death rules, so that means I was wrong about it starting in that year. It had to have been at least a year earlier, probably more. I do have a pretty clear memory though that there was a big floor fight at the 1988 Delegates Meeting over authorizing G/30 for rating.