Classification
The amount of time given to each player to complete their moves will vary from game to game. However, most games tend to change the classification of tournaments according to the length of time given to the players. InMethodology
The exact approach to using a game clock to regulate games varies considerably.Sudden death
This is the simplest methodology. Each player is assigned a fixed amount of time for the whole game. If a player's main time expires, they generally lose the game.Overtime formats
Here the game time is separated into two basic domains: the main time and the overtime. To switch between the two requires some trigger event, often the expiration of the main time. InPenalty formats
Such methods exact a points penalty, or fine, on the player who breaches their time limit. One example occurs in Go, where the Ing Rules enforce fines on breaches of main time and overtime periods. In tournament Scrabble, the time control is standardized to 25 minutes per side with a 10-point penalty for each minute or part thereof that is used in excess, so that overstepping the allotted time by 61 seconds carries a 20-point penalty.Hourglass
Each player's clock starts with a specified time (such as one minute or ten minutes). While one player is deciding a move, their clock time decreases and their opponent's clock time increases. This is analogous to an hourglass: sand empties from one container and fills the other. The sum of both clocks always remains the same, and slow moves give extra time to the opponent. There is no maximum amount of time allotted for a game with this timing method; if both players play quickly enough, the game will continue until its natural end. Use of this time control is uncommon.Game formats
Go
Byo-yomi
This timing method is also used in shogi. The word is borrowed from Japanese; the term literally means "counting the seconds", or more generally, "countdown". After the main time is depleted, a player has a certain number of periods (for example five periods, each of thirty seconds). If a move is completed before the time expires, the time period resets and restarts the next turn. If a move is not completed within a time period, the time period will expire, and the next time period begins. This is written as + of . Using up the last period means that the player has ''lost on time''. In some systems, such as certain Go title matches, there is no main time; instead, the time used is rounded ''up'' to the nearest whole increment, such as one minute, and the actual counting of time occurs toward the end of one player's time. A typical time control is "60 minutes + 30 seconds byo-yomi", which means that each player may make as many or as few moves as they choose during their first 60 minutes of thinking time, but after the hour is exhausted, they must make each move in thirty seconds or less. To enforce byo-yomi, a third person or a game clock with a byo-yomi option is necessary. In professional Go games and many amateur tournaments, a player has several byo-yomi periods, for example five periods of one minute each. If a player makes their move within a one-minute period, they retain all five periods for their future moves. If a player oversteps one minute, they start the following move in the second rather than the first byo-yomi period. In effect, the player has one minute per move plus four extra one-minute packets which may be used as needed, e.g. four moves of two minutes each, or one move of five minutes, or any other combination. In higher-level tournaments, such as the Kisei tournament, the player's time is often composed entirely of byo-yomi periods (for example, in an eight-hour game, the player may have 480 periods of one minute each), rather than having a main block of thinking time. In this case, the actual counting of time (verbally) begins once the player falls below a certain threshold of time, such as 10 minutes; when the time is being counted, the player is informed at intervals how much time they have used in their current period, and how many extra periods they have left. (For example, the time may be called at 10-second intervals, and when 55 and 58 seconds have been used; during a player's final minute, the last 10 seconds are counted one by one.) Similarly, in the televised NHK Cup tournament, the player has 30 seconds per move plus 10 extra one-minute periods which may be used as needed. When analog game clocks are used to enforce byo-yomi, it is more convenient to assign additional time for a block of moves, rather than for each move. In ''Canadian byo-yomi'', a player typically gets 5 minutes for 10 to 20 moves. TheCanadian overtime
After using all of their main time, a player must make a certain number of moves within a certain period of time — for example, twenty moves within five minutes. In Go, players stop the clock, and the player in overtime counts out the required number of stones and sets the remaining stones out of reach so as not to become confused, whilst the opponent sets the clock to the overtime period. If all the moves are made in time, then another period of overtime starts — another set of stones and the timer again reset to the overtime period. If all the moves are not made in time, the player has ''lost on time''. This is written as + in . In Progressive Canadian Overtime the required rate of play alters in additional overtime periods — EG 1hour + 10 in 5, 20 in 5, 30 in 5, 40 in 5 etc. BGA Rules pageChess
Increment and delay methods
These are the timing methods most often used in chess. In increment (also known as bonus and Fischer, afterSimple delay
In the simple delay (also known as the US delay), the clock waits for a fixed delay period during each move before the player's main time starts counting down. For example, if the delay is ten seconds, the clock waits for ten seconds each move before the main time starts counting down.Bronstein delay
The Bronstein delay (named after David Bronstein, its inventor), like increment, adds a fixed amount of time after each move, but no more than the amount of time spent to make the move. For example, if the delay is ten seconds and a player uses ten or more seconds for a move, ten seconds are added after they complete their move. If the player uses five seconds, only those five seconds are returned to the clock. This ensures that the main time left on the clock can never increase even if a player makes fast moves. As with increment, under FIDE and US Chess rules, the delay time is applied to the first move. The Simple and Bronstein delays are mathematically equivalent. The advantage of the Bronstein delay is that the player can easily see how much time is remaining without mentally adding the delay to the main clock. The advantage of the simple delay is that the player can always tell whether the delay time or the main time is counting down. The simple delay is the form of delay most often used in the United States, while the Bronstein delay is more often used in most other countries.See also
*References
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