I’m sorry to hear that delay (or increment) is sometimes applied only to the final control, and I pray that it’s not done that way often enough to be regarded as a “trend”.
There are all kinds of problems with having delay or increment applied only to the final control.
For one thing, it gives the time control a much different “look and feel” in the preliminary control(s) vs the final control. In the final control, one can at least expect to have at least 5 seconds in which to make one’s move. In the preliminary control(s), there may be only a split second remaining.
For another thing, player behavior can deteriorate badly during the last few seconds of a preliminary control – players knocking over pieces without replacing them, players using two hands, players pressing the clock after the capturing piece has moved but before the captured piece has been removed, etc etc etc.
For a third thing, how is the clock supposed to function? For example, if the game is 40/90 d/0, SD/30 d/5, should the clock turn on the delay after move 40, or should it do so only after the base 90 minutes has expired? And in the latter case, should it add the delay for each player only after that player has reached 90 minutes, or should it do so for both when one player reaches 90? You might end up adding the delay for one player at move 42, but for the other not until move 57.
For a fourth thing, can all clocks be set for such a thing? And if so, which of the three variations (in the above paragraph) will any given clock, in any given mode, use?
For a fifth thing, the vast majority of tournaments are played with the delay or increment in effect from move one. A player accustomed to this convention could be in for an unpleasant surprise when he plays in an event that strays from this standard. Hard feelings, and unnecessary and acrimonious disputes, become likely.
All of this was discussed by the 5th edition rulebook revision committee in about 2002. I made all of the above points at that time. As I recall, Bill Goichberg responded with “I agree with all of this, and” also came up with a sixth point: Extreme time pressure in a preliminary control can cause serious disruptions for other players whose games are still in progress nearby.
Please, if anybody is doing this, please cease and desist immediately. Delay or increment in effect from move 1 is the only sensible way to go.
Bill Smythe