Sunday, November 22, 2009

Suggestions for Digital Chess Clocks?

I'm getting ready to start playing rated tournaments again, and I've decided to get with the 21st century and replace my analog clock with a digital one. The main features I'm looking for are durability (I'm worried about opponents bashing it around in time trouble) and readability (so I can record the time taken by me and my opponent after every move easily). I'm assuming that all digital clocks allow a time increment, which is another mandatory feature.

I would welcome any suggestions for clocks that fit the bill. Price is a lesser consideration--I want to find a good deal, but I don't want to buy something that's going to break after a few rounds of blitz. Some of these plastic clocks I've been seeing my opponents with lately, such as this and this, just feel like they're too delicate.

6 comments:

dfan said...

If you don't care about price, the Chronos is pretty much the standard digital clock. I've had mine for over ten years and am very happy with it. It doesn't have the most friendly user interface but it's perfectly fine.

Grandpatzer said...

If I recall correctly, the Chronos with the touch button doesn't have moving parts, so they should be pretty sturdy in blitz situations. Am I correct?

CMoB said...

I recommend the DGT2000. Very durable.

Anonymous said...

Chronos is the way to go if your budget has room.

Unknown said...

I agree that Chronos is pretty standard. I'm happy with mine - my preference is the GX clock. The newer Chronos clocks (GX and newer FX - no divider in display and no non-chess functions) are smaller and fit easier into my chess bag ( - plus playing with an increment is now simple to program. The older longer Chronos can do increment, but the setting is obscure.

I prefer the touch button, so that my opponent doesn't smash my pieces on the clock. They learn quickly that they have to use their hand.

The DGT2000 is phased out for the DGT2010. Both these can do increment easily. However, I would not get the DGT2010 if you play in a US tournament - even though it's an official FIDE clock - one thing you can't do with the new DGT2010 is program two time controls with a 5-second delay (which are common in the US).

The Saitek Grey/Black Competition clock is the only other one that I know that can do time increment. The Scholastic Blue clocks cannot do this. These are pretty study.

Grandpatzer said...

Chris: that was a great synopsis. Thank you (and everyone else!)