Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

[Sasha Starr]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

Dear Hugh,
Your post raises a lot of questions, and therefore I'll provide a lot of answers:
1.This is an Internet site.
2.Yes, it is a site I've written about here on Sept. 15, 2014.
3.The Beta site release will be announced soon, with a special program of matches and tournaments with prizes.
4.Right now the site is available for players by private invitations.
5.The substantial delay in the site's opening is due to the growing ambitions of our management and investors: it is on its way to becoming the premier CHESS SITE. It has an advanced Database, and our Playing Zone is highly praised by experienced players, including a few well known Grandmasters. Also it will provide its members with a new features currently available nowhere else. The site has already many advantages over existing chess sites, too numerous to list here.

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

Sasha wrote:

Actually our new site has both increments and delays available, however our upcoming Invitational Saturday blitz tournament will use a 5 minutes plus 5 seconds delay: so a player has an opportunity to finish the game in the totally won position, but without possibility to accumulate time!

I assume this is an Internet site - not a physical site? Is your site the one you wrote about on Chesstalk on Sept. 15, 2014? Is it open to the public?

"All details will be available in due time, beta site will be available in October, and full public release - before the year end.
Right now the playing zone is available by private invitations only.
Thank you, Sasha. "

[Sasha Starr]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

Actually our new site has both increments and delays available, however our upcoming Invitational Saturday blitz tournament will use a 5 minutes plus 5 seconds delay: so a player has an opportunity to finish the game in the totally won position, but without possibility to accumulate time!

[Vadim Tsypin]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

Gotta be careful with big increments. They work well until they don't.

Hal, what about delays? They are not at all popular in Canada, but in many U.S. tournaments their TDs use a delay instead of an increment exactly for the purpose you stated - not to let the games drag for too long.

Say, we take Bob's original idea and modify it to be 1 min + 30 sec delay. This way, there will be no accumulation of time due to rapid-fire moves in the opening, and the spectators will be thrilled to see that every time a player goes past his delay allotment, his clock will "eat into" the one and only allocated minute.

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

I believe "lightning chess" is the British term for "rapid-transit chess" - both normally played at 10 seconds a move.

[Tony Ficzere]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

Actually, they are both the same. Rapid Transit was popular in the USA in the 50's. Not sure when it became known as lightning.

[Hal Bond]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

And for the record, I'd be all for something simple. Like 1h + 1m. per move for us amateurs.

Simple, easy to explain.

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I think you have to claw back some base time if you want larger increments. I ran a few tournaments with a 50m +50sec time control a few years back. 50/50 - it sounded very fair! Then I was forced to adjourn one endgame. I believe the Canadian Open in Ottawa 2007 was using one minute increments and then one game dragged on too long. Gotta be careful with big increments. They work well until they don't.

[John Coleman]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

Back in the 50's, my club played 10-seconds a move chess, controlled by a buzzer. You had to move on the buzz, that is, the moves on each board were made at the same time. They called it "lightning chess".

I believe "Rapid Transit" is 15 minutes per game.

[Tony Ficzere]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

I think that was called "Rapid Transit" but I've never played it.

[Ken Kurkowski]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

I recall reading about something similar that used to be played at clubs. Every ten seconds, the TD would press a buzzer or hit a small gong at which time everyone had to make their move. This would go on until all games were finished. I always wondered whether there would be a lot of disputes of the "I made my move in time! No, you didn't!" variety.

[Olivier Tessier]

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[Tony Ficzere]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

Sounds like fun to me. Call it whatever you want!

I use to enjoy playing online at 2 & 12, like speed chess, but you could bank time in the scramble and use it later. 1 & 30 would be something like this, with better quality games I guess. Would be fun to watch as well. Maybe there is an audience.

[Paul Bonham]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

Nakamura is on record as saying yesterday, “If every tournament was like the World Cup, I think I would be dead within 10 years”.

So, while it might be fun to play and much more fun to watch, my calculations tell me that the increment players would succumb to hypertension, heart attacks and early-onset insanity at an alarmingly early age.

I think a certified medical board should pass on this variant before it is seriously taken up.

Hmmm... succumb to hypertension, heart attacks, insanity at an early age.... sounds like the NFL!!!

Retired NFL players are known to be suffering all kinds of ailments, there are even commercials directed at them by law firms. That's right, "Attention retired NFL Players: have you been... blah, blah, blah". If you haven't seen them, I am not joking.

It doesn't slow down the NFL one iota. College-age players are drawn to the big money, no matter the risks. Why should it slow down chess if older players suffer ailments? That should help chess, give it faster turnover, fresh new faces rising to the top sooner etc etc.

Incidentally, I can't imagine Nakamura was totally serious with that quote. Wouldn't he have been playing blitz since he was knee-high to a grasshopper?

Speaking of grasshopper: "When you can move the King and Rook with both hands.... it will be time for you to leave."

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

And for the record, I'd be all for something simple. Like 1h + 1m. per move for us amateurs.

Simple, easy to explain.

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Increment Chess - 1 minute plus 30 second increment

Pretty sure I'd do OK-ish at it. I usually play the opening rapidly and try not to waste too much time. But I still need some time to play decently.

If we're going for pure increments, though, I'd go with a 1 or 2 minutes increment, depending on the tournament. 30 seconds is just not enough.

But 2 minutes per move? I'd be all for it. That's only a 4 hours games if you get to 60 moves. And if you want it shorter, just go with 90sec. increments. Then that's 3 hours for a 60 moves game.