How To Use a Chess Clock

October 29, 2008
Tags: Learning Chess Articles, Product Reviews, New, Etc

HOW TO USE AN ANALOG CHESS CLOCK
Analog (or mechanical) chess clocks were the first clocks to be invented. They use mechanical parts like levers, gears, and springs to control the time. Analog chess clocks are much easier for kids, beginners, and those who don’t want to read a huge manual to understand the digital clocks! Almost all analog clocks are the same, so if you understand one you understand them all.

Analog Chess Clock

Analog chess clocks use a regular clock face. Each side also has a small flag on it. When the long hand of the clock starts to approach the 12 position it will pick up the flag and raise it as it moves. When it passes the 12 position the flag will fall. Therefore, you always set an analog chess clock backwards with the amount of time you want per player. So, if you wanted a 15 minute game, you would set the long hand to be on the 9 – exactly 15 minutes before the straight-up 12 position. If you wanted to set the clock for one hour per player you would set the long hand to the 12 position so that one full hour would pass before the flag would fall. Remember to set both sides equally. The short hand of the clock is generally set back from the 6 o’clock position. A 2 hour game would start at 4 o’clock. You use small knobs on the back of the chess clock to manually move the hands on the face, just like you would adjust the time on a clock that hangs on your wall.

HOW TO USE A DIGITAL CHESS CLOCK
Digital chess clocks and chess timers use LCD displays and digital components to tell time. They are more fully-featured than analog clocks (supporting more advanced features like time delay, move counters, etc), but can be very complicated for users. Each digital chess clock is different, so you will need to learn the specifics about each clock you use.

Digital Chess Clock

Instead of a clock face and hands that travel around it, digital chess clocks and timers use a digital display to show the amount of time left. Time is usually shown in the hours:minutes:seconds format. For example: 1:23:45 means the player has one hour, twenty three minutes and forty five seconds before their time runs out. Both players still have buttons to start and stop time. Instead of a visual flag falling, digital clocks may have an audible beep, or the display might start flashing. Also, each chess clock has a different way of being set by pushing a combination of buttons. You will need to consult the instruction manual that comes with your digital chess timer for its specific operational details.

NEW! September 2010:
You can watch special videos we’ve created that will teach you how to use the chess clock you purchased from Wholesale Chess. Simply visit Wholesale Chess on YouTube and view our Chess Videos.

New! Chess Clock Timing Modes:
We’ve put together a list of popular chess clock timing modes and which clocks use those modes. Check it out for help learning about some of those modes you’ve never known how to use!