Chess clock
A free chess clock for your phone or laptop
Open the clock and play
- Ten presets from 1 | 0 bullet to 90 | 30 classical, or your own time control.
- Built for a phone lying between two players, with the screen kept awake.
- Full screen on laptops and tablets; the space bar switches clocks.
Free, no account, no ads. It runs entirely in your browser.
How to use the chess clock
- 1
Choose a time control
Pick a preset such as 3 | 2 or 10 | 0, or set your own: minutes and seconds for each player, then an increment or a delay.
- 2
Put the phone between the players
On a phone the top half is turned upside down, so each player reads their own time the right way up. On a laptop the two clocks sit side by side.
- 3
Black starts White's clock
As with a physical clock, Black presses first, which starts White's time. On a keyboard the space bar does the same.
- 4
Tap your half after each move
Your time stops, any increment is added, and your opponent's time starts. The running clock turns red in the last ten seconds and shows tenths.
Pause stops both clocks, for example when you need an arbiter or a break. Reset puts both clocks back to the starting time. Swap moves White to the other side if the phone is facing the wrong way.
Increment, Bronstein delay and simple delay
Increment (Fischer)
A fixed bonus is added after every move you complete. In 3 | 2 you start with three minutes, and each move adds two seconds, so playing faster than two seconds a move makes your time grow.
Bronstein delay
Your clock counts down as normal, and after your move the time you used is given back, up to the delay. With a five-second delay, a three-second move costs nothing and a twelve-second move costs seven seconds. You can never end up with more time than you had.
Simple delay (US delay)
At the start of your turn the clock waits for the delay before it begins to count down. The clock shows the delay ticking away first. The time you are left with is the same as under Bronstein; only the display differs.
Common time controls
| Control | Time per player | Increment | FIDE category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 1 min | None | Blitz |
| 3 | 0 | 3 min | None | Blitz |
| 3 | 2 | 3 min | 2 s | Blitz |
| 5 | 0 | 5 min | None | Blitz |
| 5 | 3 | 5 min | 3 s | Blitz |
| 10 | 0 | 10 min | None | Blitz |
| 10 | 5 | 10 min | 5 s | Rapid |
| 15 | 10 | 15 min | 10 s | Rapid |
| 30 | 0 | 30 min | None | Rapid |
| 90 | 30 | 90 min | 30 s | Standard |
How FIDE sorts time controls
FIDE adds each player's starting time to 60 times the increment, which is the time a 60-move game would give. Ten minutes or less is blitz. More than ten but less than sixty is rapid. Sixty minutes or more is standard (classical) chess. That is why 10 | 0 counts as blitz but 10 | 5 is rapid.
“Bullet” is not a FIDE category. Online sites use it for very fast games, usually under three minutes each, such as 1 | 0 or 2 | 1.
Clock etiquette over the board
Under FIDE's Laws of Chess you press the clock with the same hand you moved with, and only after the move is complete. If your time runs out you lose, unless your opponent cannot checkmate you by any series of legal moves, in which case the game is drawn. US Chess has its own rulebook with some differences, so check the rules of the event you are playing in.