Fun, Unofficial Time Formats

It's been a while since I posted something. This is mainly due to my recent non chess-related interest, following South Korea's long-running variety show, Running Man. Jeon So Min, is my clear favourite in the show.

I finally found enough time and spirit to make a short post due to the long weekends!

Did you know that the regulars at the Singapore Chess Meetup came up with this special time format which was quite enjoyable? We refer to it as "10 second chess (10s)". In a nutshell, you have 10 seconds to make each move. The 10-second timer resets with each move, and there is no accumulation of time to subsequent move(s).

Instructions on how to set the Clock for 10s

1. The way to do this, is to use Delay mode, where the initial time is 0:00 and the delay is 10 seconds / move.
2. If you are using a chess clock model similar to LEAP PQ 9903, you can make the adjustment from option #10.
3. For this particular format, do remember to switch on the sound/alarm (assuming your clock has this function). As seen in the video, the effect is that the timer will beep once per second when there is only 5 seconds left on the clock.
4. Happy playing!

Interestingly, players who are good at blitz may fare poorly in this format. The general tip/trick, seems to be, that one should try to maximise the 10 seconds per move.

Last but not least, my personal favourite time format is actually hourglass, which I tried out playing with a kiddo at Siglap South CC some time ago.

Care to share what is your favourite 'fun' time format that is not used in official tournaments?


Yours sincerely
Ong Yujing (Eugene)
a.k.a. newbie_learner
Siglap South CC Chess Quartet