Recently, tournament players and organizers have complained about the lack of ability of most chess clocks to fully display all information adequately. Typical complaints are:
- “During the delay countdown, the display switches so that the main time is not displayed at all, to make room for the delay to display as a countdown digit.”
- “The delay is displayed only as a flashing colon, or as the word ‘delay’ flashing, so the actual delay seconds are not displayed.”
- “The main time is displayed only as h:mm to leave room for the delay digit, reverting to h:mm:ss only when the delay counts down to zero.”
- “There is no way for the clock to show main time, delay time, and move count, all as digits, all at the same time.”
I think it’s time for clock manufacturers to start using larger displays, consisting of two rows deep instead of one. That way, all information can be fully displayed at all times:
[size=120]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/size][size=200]||||[/size]
[size=200]h:mm:ss . . |||| . . h:mm:ss[/size]
[size=150]d . . . . . . [/size][size=120]cc . . . . [/size][size=200]||||[/size][size=120] . . . . cc[/size][size=150] . . . . . . d[/size]
[size=120]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/size][size=200]||||[/size]
Sorry if the above does not display properly on your device. It looks fine on my desktop. Otherwise, you will have to use your (extreme) powers of visualization.
I used those[size=200] |||| [/size]symbols to represent the metal or plastic piece that goes between the left side (usually white’s side) and right side (usually black’s side) of the display. Or, if manufacturers convert to a single-piece display going all the way across, then those symbols could represent an actual thick vertical black bar in the middle of the single display.
h:mm:ss represents the main time, always 5 full digits. But the first digit (and the first colon) could be suppressed when the time drops below one hour, i.e. 1:00:00 would switch to 59:59. The second digit could also be suppressed below 10 minutes, i.e. 10:00 would switch to 9:59. The third digit (but NOT the second colon) could be suppressed below 1 minute. The second colon and fourth digit should NEVER be suppressed for the main time; for example, 4 seconds of main time should display as :04.
d represents the delay time, always just a single digit unless it is 10 seconds or more. If it is up to 59 seconds (or, better yet, 99 seconds) it would switch from 2 digits to 1 digit as it drops from 10 seconds to 9 seconds. Alternatively, delay could be up to 9:59 (just short of 10 minutes), suppressing the minutes and the colon as it drops below 1 minute (1:00) to 59 seconds (displayed as just 59, without a colon).
cc represents the move count, always displayed as 2 digits, even when the move count is below 10. If the move count goes over 99, an additional digit could be displayed. 100 moves would display as “100”, 99 moves as “99”, but 4 moves as “04”.
Additional comments: By displaying the move count always as 2 digits, but the delay usually as just 1 digit, the user quickly becomes accustomed to which is which. Size helps too. The delay digit(s) could be a half-inch tall, the move count digits a quarter-inch. And, placing the delay digit(s) at the edges (left edge of the left display, right edge of the right display) is a good mnemonic for remembering that the two delays are often far apart (because most of the time one will be non-zero and the other zero). Similarly, placing the move count digits closer to each other (right edge of the left display, and left edge of the right display) is a mnemonic for remembering that the two move counts are always close to each other (they differ by at most 1).
Having the main time 3/4 inch high further distinguishes main time from delay time and move count, as does having main time always display at least 2 digits plus colon (e.g. :04 for 4 seconds).
Thoughts?
Bill Smythe