The Chronos Blitz is a nice clock, it just has something that bugs me. If you want, you can set the clock with delay and increment to be used at the same time. Why design a clock that is so illegal? As I’m sure having delay and increment on at the same time is illegal for a rated game. Sure it would be fun to have the delay and increment on at the same time for blitz.
Perhaps the Chronos people are just forward-looking. Maybe some day it will be legal – and it’s not all that bad an idea.
For that matter, even under the present rules, what’s to keep an organizer from having a time control like 40/90, then 1/1 (one move in one minute) indefinitely, and still have a 5-second delay? When you stop to think about it, increment is nothing more than a repeating control, with the number of moves per control set to 1.
Bill Smythe
Bill:
That is true Bill, but at this time only seeing the Chronos having delay and increament on at the same time. It is a nice clock, as it is just great when I play in the coffee house. Since it is a blitz clock, would never use it for slow chess. You could for the G/30 or G/60, but anything slower will get the other Chronos out. Come up to Grand Rapids Bill, will play you a blitz match, do you want it at G/5 (t/d 2) plus (in/2)? 
The Chronos designers have always seemed to be ahead of the curve. Weren’t they the first ones out with a delay mode, several years before the USCF sanctioned their use?
Also, as an engineer myself, if I have option A and option B, and those options are essentially independent of each other, offering A+B is a low-cost enhancement while interlocking A and B so that they are mutuallly exclusive probably increases the chances of something going wrong.
If you want with it, you can have the delay plus increament, with the special – the move counter. Think it is legal to change a G/10 into a 40/5 SD/5, who wants two time controls for a quick event.
If 30/30 then SD/30 is not legal for a dual-rated event (see another thread), then I’m sure 40/5 then SD/5 wouldn’t wash for a quick-rated event.
Bill Smythe
I do believe so, yes. A friend of mine has a VERY old Chronos (not only does it have a switch on the bottom, but it doesn’t even have saveable user modes) which he calls the 286 of digital clocks. It has a 5-second delay capability, but only if there is just a single main time control of game/99 or faster.
Bill Smythe
I’ve never seen the Chronos Blitz, so maybe you can fill me in:
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What are the differences between the Chronos Blitz and the regular Chronos? Is it physically smaller? Does it display fewer digits at a time? Are the buttons different?
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Why wouldn’t the Chronos Blitz be good for slow controls? Does it lack the ability to display all five digits (h:mm:ss) simultaneously? Can it be used with multiple controls? Does it have mid-game time-adjust capability, like the regular Chronos?
Bill Smythe
The Chronos Blitz is smaller, it is 6 3/8" long, the regular Chronos is 8 13/16" long. The Chronos Blitz only has one display screen, the Chronos regular has two. The Chronos Blitz only has 12 modes, the Chronos regular only has 70. The Chronos Blitz buttons I have are the same as the Chronos II. If you want you can order the Chronos Blitz with the older style buttons. The Chronos Blitz I have is the factory color blue, you still can order the clock in its standard color.
The digits are the same size as the regular Chronos, except for the size of delay and the move counter. It will only show only one area, the center of the screen when the delay is on. It will only show in the center of the screen only one move counter. If the move counter and the delay are on, only the move counter will show up.
The move counter only change after black makes the move. If the move counter is used for a second time control, the move counter will not show whites move till black makes the final move in the order. The move counter could be off by half a move, as the players could miss the claim it is off, as there is only one move counter set of numbers.
The problem with slow chess, is the mid-game time-adjustment. The director can change the time-adjustment in 8 of the 12 modes. The director can only change the minutes not the seconds.
Since it only has one screen, it will show h:mm or mm:ss, it will not show h:mm:ss. This is not a huge problem, as I do not care about the seconds if the clock has over 90 minutes left in the game.
The increment are set as cumulative (Fisher) increment, not the non-cumulative (Bronstein) increment.
It does have a number of time controls, would not use the modes tc-1, tc-2, tc-3 or tc-u. As the time controls only change with the move counter. If the move counter is wrong, the time control change can be wrong. The other long term slow time controls would be tn-1, tn-2, tn-3, tn-u. It wound not be a problem if you do not mind having h:mm with the clock having more then 1:40 minutes on the clock. It will show mm:ss when the clock has less then 1:40 minutes on the clock.
It is a Blitz clock, not a slow time control clock. If you use the modes F1, F2, F3 or F4. What I can say about the F modes difference is the pre-set factory modes on the clock. They have the three display options, the owner of the clock can change at will. There is the set mode that will show three numbers. It can show up as 111 or 000 or any numbers with 1 or 0. The first display will show tenths of a second when the time goes below 1:40 minutes. If you have 1 minute it will show 60_0. The second mode is a 1 if you want a flashing dash on the side, 0 if you want the flashing dash off. The third mode will have all the leading zeros turned off. If you have 0:10 on the regular Chronos clock, it will show only the number 10. This mode will not be on if you have the first mode on, the one with the tenth of a second.
The clock will give the owner the right to have delay and increment on at the same time. All 12 modes will grant the owner this right. It is nice to have, as they will be fun time controls.
The clock is nice for blitz games. If you like to play blitz all the time would say it would be great. At the tournament level, would not mind if the owner wants to use it for the quick events. The clock should never be used for a 14H2a claim, as the time adjustment can only be for the minutes not the seconds. The clock can have adjustments for the illegal move claims, as it is granting 2 minutes.
It would not be bad for the slow time controls. Would only use the clock for only one time controls not 2 or more. I’m not a big fan of the move counter having control of the second or more time controls. Not a big fan of having only the mm:ss if I have the delay set on. If having the delay on like the CH-A1 or that mode scale to show the delay all the time.
Since the clock did come on the market in January 2005, it could have had a number of problems with the programing. I’m sure the company wanted to get the clock out before Christmas 2004, it could have been but did not see it in the market till January 2005. With the problem with the time-adjustment, only having Fisher increment without Bronstein increment. Again, it was designed as a Blitz clock.
I too have a Chronos Blitz clock although I do use it for slower time control games too. The only problem I have with it is that it doesn’t have the little red lights on the top of the unit showing who’s move it is as with the bigger model. I like to walk around while my opponent is thinking and so I have to keep looking at the display to see if my clock is running or not to tell whose move it is.
Chris
That is a problem, it only has one light and it is very small. The light will turn red then green, but its very pointless. As it can be red for white in one game and green the next. The light is so weak, it is hard to see it more then a few feet away from the board. The clock was designed as a blitz clock, not many players get up and walk away from a blitz game.
Having the light on during a slow game is nice, if you like to get up and walk around. Myself like the light, if I know I will be walking around. Designed as a blitz clock, as it has one light, do not see the point of having the light.
Wounder if Bill Smythe has ordered his Chronos Blitz 
Nope, and I don’t think I will. My Chronos is about 10 years old, with a switch on the bottom, but it’s new enough to have dozens of modes and 8 user presets, and it seems to have all the features I need. Increment (cumulative addback) with 2 or more main time controls might be a problem, but delay (non-cumulative addback) with 1, 2, or 3 controls works fine.
I’ll stick with what I have for the foreseeable future. Besides, I have in mind some ideas for the Smythe Dream Clock, which (if it is technologically feasible) would far surpass anything now on the market. (I have a hunch Chronos would be more likely than any other manufacturer to be able to implement all the stuff I have in mind, but that’s for the future, or maybe just for a fantasy.)
Bill Smythe