I would be very interested in being on the clock committee. I was chosen to be a beta tester for the new V-TEK 300 clock. One very useful thing the committee could do to assist players and TD’s would be to write instructions on how to set different digital clocks for different time controls.
Also, do you prefer clocks with buttons or touch sensors?
If a player asks a TD to set the player’s clock, then certainly the TD (or organizer) has every right to choose the setting – move counter on, move counter off, or even the more extreme option of setting it for just one time control requiring a manual reset later.
Of course, if the organizer furnishes clocks for all games, then it should be up to the organizer, period, and all clocks should already be set ahead of time.
In a tournament where the players furnish their own clocks, I would be somewhat aghast at a TD who announced (either verbally or in writing), at the start of the round, that all move counters must be turned off or that all move counters must be turned on. It’s entirely possible that both players have the same preference and that no TD intervention is required.
If the players do not have the same preference, then it should be up to the player who furnished the clock – provided that he knows how to set it and has not had to ask for TD assistance.
And, of course, the player with the black pieces has the right to be the player who furnishes the clock (within reasonable limits as hinted at above and elsewhere).
Bill Smythe
Are you suggesting the new Clock Committee write user manuals for all the clocks? What makes you think players/TDs are going to read your instructions if they don’t read the user manual provided by the clock manufacturer? Proactive/conscientious TDs who don’t want to buy every clock on the market will find a way to learn how to use/set them.
For clarification, what I meant was I started to set every clock that players gave to me to the first time control since most of the questions dealt with “how does my clock work, do I get my 30 minutes now?!!?” and I was like uhhhh does this clock do it after or before, do some math, etc.
@ Smythe and others… what do you think about turning off beeps for blitz tournament? and perhaps intervening if turning the beep was easy (ex: Seitek, move on switch all the way to turn off beep and light).
Rule 16B2a already requires clocks to be set to operate silently if possible. Beeps during a blitz game are possibly even more annoying than during a slow game, I think.
People who have allowed their clock to beep should have time deducted just as they would if their phone rang.
I want to be sure I understand this. If one or both players approached you requesting help setting the clock, or asking how the clock functioned at time control—you then set the clock for a single time control of 120 minutes and told the players to find you or another TD when they reached move 40.
That was your standard protocol. And you are an NTD, and this was at the World Open.
Is all that correct?
This is just what happened in the large side room of the Parsippany Hilton for round 3 of the 2012 USATE. I was there. The TD in charge of the room—if you told me his name I would likely recognize it, but I can’t recall it right now—announced that he did not want to see a move counter in use on any clock in the room.
That was the year after the last-round quagmire that determined the East team champ for 2011.
After he said that, I noticed a few players glance at their clocks and sorta roll their eyes and lick their lips, but if anyone objected I did not see or hear it. Note that there were quite a few younger, lower-rated players in this room, filled with teams who did not make the cut for the ballroom. (after two rounds of accelerated pairings)
One good thing about the DGT NA: There is no way to set it so a clock-press counter is visible. A player must pro-actively press a button on the clock to see the “move count.” The Saitek scholastic blue clock functions the same way.
Maybe that’s a good compromise, since this is clearly a Coke and Pepsi sort of divide.
P.S. Note that the TD who “banned” move counters was only in charge of the side room. Whatever Steve Doyle and Co. announced at the microphone in the ballroom that round likely had nothing to do with clock-press counters.
If a TD told me that move counters could not be used I would object and, if he was adamant, I would demand my entry fee back and withdraw. There is nothing in the rules that permits the TD to do such a thing. I have an Excalibur and as far as I know the feature that adds the secondary time only works with move counters. I don’t know if there is a way to shut it off or not, but I fail to see any legitimate reason to require it. I absolutely understand that relying on it is risky, but only in rare situations would there actually be a problem. If there has been an extra set of clock punches or a missed set of punches and time pressure was remotely relevant, I would take responsibility to notify a TD and let them deal with it as best they could, encouraging them that if the player needed to be advised of the situation that they could do that on my time.
In the first round game in Phoenix my young opponent pressed his clock without moving, and when I called him on it he punched my clock, made his move and then punched his. I was aware, of course, that the counter was incorrect. As it turns out, a couple of moves later he forgot to punch his clock, so I made my move and the count was right again. He forgot to press it a couple more times and after a while I gave up on reminding him, but the position on the board and the clock told me that it was never going to be a factor. So I didn’t sweat it.
Yes, I understood what you meant, which is why I said “If a player asks a TD to set the player’s clock …”. Your policy is definitely not one at which I would be aghast (even slightly).
But, if a TD demanded that all move counters be on or all off, I would likely put this TD on my list of TDs to avoid.
As a player, I’m accommodating. If I know (or the opponent tells me) his preference, I’ll do it his way. For example, if I were paired against fpawn, I would turn the move counter off even before he arrives at the board.
OTOH, I have occasionally fantasized about the following scenario: I have my Chronos set (in a 2-control event) with the move counter on. My opponent states his preference to have the move counter off. I agree, but (in case he hasn’t carefully thought through his preference) I remind him that, in that case, the clock will not add 30 minutes at move 40, but rather only when the first control is used up. He says he understands, but still wants the move counter off. The game proceeds, and sure enough, he reaches move 40 with about a minute to spare, but then panics when the clock does not add 30 minutes, and blitzes out his 41st and subsequent moves. At about move 43, I decide I should straighten him out, so after I play my move I stop both clocks and remind him that he now has 30 more minutes, and that the clock will add 30 minutes when the first period runs out, and would he please stop ruining the game by blitzing unnecessarily. Etc etc. Did I do the right thing?
I guess that’s one reason I prefer the move counter to be on.
The Saitek beep is extremely annoying, even in blitz, and should be turned off. Some Chronos models offer user-adjustable beeps, and the softer settings might be acceptable in blitz, but not in regular. A barely audible “click” might be acceptable even in regular.
Bill Smythe
Rules (and TD policies) should not be based on corner cases. If the displayed move count becomes inaccurate, just deal with it in some reasonable way. Let the players have their move counters if they wish.
On this point we must disagree. In a two-control event, it is perfectly horrible to turn the move counter on but not be able to see it, at least if the move count triggers the next control. The move count could become inaccurate without either player even realizing it, and then there could be hall to pay.
Bill Smythe
Nothing in the list of TD duties is to set everyone’s clock. It is a courtesy as players are responsible for setting their clock, even if a TD did it. So, if one gives me their clock to set, I’ll set it the way I want it to be set (without move counters, no beeps, no flag beep, no halt at end, save to memory 1 for recall etc.) - otherwise, they can find the clock’s manual and set it themselves. (Standard is 1st time control with delay)
At time control, I just make sure the clock times reflect how long theoretically a game should last. If it is way over (say 3 more hours when it should be ~1 hour), then I would intervene and investigate the clock. Better now than later where it could be a Game 5 blitz off.
That’s my standard protocol. I am not sure why being a NTD has to do with anything but you’ll find that I am one of the few TDs that set most of the clocks for the tournament. Hence, my position at the beginning of the round is in the center of the ballroom as the “clock TD.” And that’s what I did in the Potomac room of the World Open 2015.
Best,
Acerook
P.S. Correction: After Black has completed 40th move, not just “reached” 40th move, do players receive their second time control.
Thanks, but I am still not sure I understand. Let me give a practical example:
I approach you as the round starts, say “My dad just bought me this DGT NA clock, my opponent and I can’t figure out how to set it, since there are no pre-sets with 10-second delay; could you please set it for us?”
In this case, do you set it for one 120-minute time control with 10-second delay, via user mode 20, or do you set it for one 120-minute control followed by a 30-minute control, with 10-second delay throughout, via user mode 23?
If you set it for just one 120-minute control, do you tell me to find you or another TD after Black completes his 40th move? That’s how I read your last few posts. If so, I’ve never seen that and it seems strange to me.
If I am correct in my understanding of how you handled this, did anyone complain, stare in bewilderment or both?
No, we agree on that. Pretty sure we discussed it here before. That can only happen on a DGT NA in increment mode, though. (And it has to be manually set, I think.) In delay mode it cannot be set to add the secondary time based on the hidden clock-press count. Right?
My point was that there will never be consensus on whether clock-press counters are Good or Bad. Thus, the compromise of having the clock-press count available for players who feel the need to press the magic button to see the magic number, on the one hand, while ‘not’ having a visible count unless someone presses the magic button, OTOH.
That’s the only way a Saitek or DGT NA can be set for delay modes, as far as I know. Now that I think about it, how do advocates of clock-press counters feel about the clocks just mentioned, especially the DGT NA, which gets rave reviews? (And has thus far kept my impulse to buy a DGT 3000 or another Chronos in check.)
Hmmm.
You called it “maybe a good compromise”, I called it “perfectly horrible”, so I don’t see how you can say we agree. That’s been one of your and my few disagreements, over the years, on matters clock.
I was not aware of that, so I’ll take your word for it, and thank you for the information.
I have used the DGT NA many times, mostly in events where the organizer supplies the clocks, and it’s a really nice clock, especially for the price. But I do not own one, and I have no idea which button is the “magic button” that displays the move count.
In all but a few of these of events with organizer-supplied clocks, there has been only one time control segment, usually G/60 inc/30 or G/90 inc/30. The few with a secondary control were either 40/60 SD/30 inc/30 or 40/90 SD/30 inc/30, and the clocks automatically added 30 minutes after move 40. Luckily, that never created a problem in any of my games, perhaps because I’m personally quite accurate with the move counter, even to the point of taking appropriate action when the opponent forgets to press his clock.
There was a significant incident, however, in one of these events. The organizer who had supplied the clocks was out of the country, and one of his assistant TDs had set all the clocks. Unfortunately, he had set them all for 40/60 inc/0; SD/30 inc/30, with the increment set only for the final control. Of course, the players became aware of the problem just a few moves into the game, so a different (and more knowledgeable) assistant TD stopped all the games and went around the room resetting all the clocks. This took about 15 minutes.
Well, I got sidetracked with this post, but I hope y’all find it an interesting story.
Bill Smythe
At the beginning of the World Open, I set the DGT NA to mode 23 with the appropriate time and delay. Towards the end, after being asked too many questions about when they get their 30 minutes, I switched to mode 20. I rather see players flag and have a notation sheet to back their claim of completing 40 moves than give their second time control. This way, if they said “but you set the clock”, then I say to them “let it flag and have a scoresheet to back it up”.
Yes to find a TD after black completes his 40th move.
No one complained because I set their clock for them, though they stare in bewilderment how quickly I set the clock (~30 seconds or less per clock). 
Bottomline: Players own one clock and can’t set it properly for the tournament BUT they expect the TDs to know how to set 10+ different clocks… 
At the Chicago Class this year in the final round on board one I set an Excalibur with the move counter turned off. When the first time control was used up it then added the second time control on that side (and the other side as well when its first time was used up). There were a few moves difference between the adds.
PS it was a time control with delay, not increment