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Here I would like to provide some tips and pointers for buyers interested in purchasing digital chess (game) clocks and timers.
If you think this guide was helpful click on the yes button at the bottom of the page.....Thanks, Mike
I have been playing chess all my life,starting from the age of 6 and have a great passion for the game. I have not been very active player lately but I am visiting and playing in tournaments from time to time so my observations on equipment used are pretty current.
End of 2008 Chess Life - The United States Federation monthly magazine published an article and interview of a newly minted US Grandmaster - Larry Kaufman. I read it with great interest as Larry earned his title by winning World Chess Senior Championship. In the interview among other things Larry made a very good point - he arrived to Germany (the host country of the tournament) a week ahead of schedule ( to adjust to weather and time change) as well as better equipped than great majority of his opponents, with a modern dual core notebook, running commercial version of Rybka -currently best playing chess program, he had most up-to-data database of recently played games and as someone who spent last few years analizing with computers very comfortable with game preparation. Larry made a point that many of his opponents (some higher rated) were not using computers at all, or had little trust in them, or had "free" demo engines.
In my opinion that applies to not just to a computer programs one should have in order to prepair for tournament games, but also to your basic chess equipment such as board, pieces and a clock. Pieces should be heavy enough, so that in time trouble they stay on the board and not fly around. Board should be durable. Clock should be reliable, preferably digital, the one that you are comfortable to program. I strongly suggest to avoid the basic, entry level items, however attractive the price can be and stick with brand names with comprehensive manuals. You will find out that a few (and will be amazed how low the difference is actually is) extra $$$ paid for a professional item (even if you are just an aspiring amature) will pay for itself in the long run.
Saitek Game Timers.
There are currently three models available on the market: Saitek Classic II, Saitek Competition Pro III and Saitek Competion.
All Saitek Clocks are using C batteries which is a plus, as C batteries provide longer operating times.
Saitek Classic II has been available for a long time and well-known around the world. It has variety of features and in the mid range price category. The biggest complain I ever heard is that manual is not good enough. There are more features actually available that described in a manual. However, since this clock has been on the market for long time, there are plenty of resources on the net that describe how to set this clock for a particular mode. In my opinion this clock as great deal at $50.00 or less.
Saitek Competition Pro III. New guy on the block. Saitek put significant re-design effort in this clock. What I like about it besides variety of modes, is that it is very light, yet stable. It is in the same price range as Classic Saitek, although you can probably get it a little bit cheaper. This clock is available in grey color only. Recommended to serious players. Time delay and Fischer increment are both supported. Great buy at $40.00-$45.00 range.
Saitek Competition. This one has exact look and feel as Competition Pro III. It appears to be a competition to DGT Easy/DGT Easy Plus models. This clock has less modes, that makes it easy to use and priced very competively. It is available in blue color only. Supports time delay but not Fischer increment, making it less attractive to European players.
Recommended to wide range of players, especially to scholastic players and word game players. My recommendation provided money is not much of issue, to skip this clock in favor of professional edition, described above. There is really no reason to settle for basic version to save $5.00-10.00.
Great buy at $30.00 - $34.00 range.
Garde Digital Chess Clock.
Garde factory is one of the most respectful chess manufactors in the world. Their analog clock is considered the golden standard of chess timepieces and was used in the World Championship match 1993 Kasparov - Short. Until now they also had a very interesting hybrid clock : digital with look and feel of analog. The hybrid clock however never gained widespread popularity due to quality issues. It looks like hybrid clock has been phased out.
Finally in 2007 Garde came with all digital clock :
This clock supports good variety of modes ( including bonus Fischer and Bronstein ( similar to delay). This clock is suitable for any kind of tournament and is an amazing gift to your special chess enthusiast. It looks fantastic on a table together with a wooden chess set. Also, as any beautiful toys it comes with this cool "WOW" factor and will certainly make your chess playing friends jelous.
Recommended to chess professionals and collectors as well as anybody who wants to complement her/his expensive chess set with a masterpiece clock.
Phileon Digital Chess Clock
Very solid and sophisticated budget priced clock.
Great overall clock designed for ease of use, periods are well supported, Fischer (bonus) is well supported, looks great on the table, runs on C batteries, which is an advantage since the clock will run longer, very reasonable price. The fact that this clock was an official clock of very popular Aeroflot Tournament in Moscow, Russia speaks for itself.
The only issue is that clock doesn't support delay modes.Added August 2008. New model which will be supporting delay modes is scheduled to be released before end of 2008.
Recommended to wide range of players. Great bargain for under $50.00.
I am currenly offer nice deal for clubs, especially those in Europe which need 4 pieces or more.
Chronos digital chess clocks (all models) :
Please note that ALL CHRONOS CLOCKS ARE COMING FROM MANUFACTOR IN OPENED (NO SHRINK WRAP) BOXES. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NORMAL AND IS NOT AN INDICATION OF ITEM BEING USED OR COUNTERFEIT.
Most favorite clock in North America, has all features you possible ever want or need, including time delay with visible count down for delay. As a tournament player myself, I can not emphacize more the importance of time delay. Those clocks are made to survive decades of heavy use. They are now come in several fancy colors and with regular or touch-sensitive buttons. Touch-sensitive buttons are make it impossible to stop the clock with a piece, you actually need to touch the button with your fingers and also discourage "clock banging". In the tournaments that I attended 30%-40% players have been using one or another Chronos model.
Variety of Chronos Clocks are available in my Chess Clocks for Less store:
If money is not much of the issue, my suggestion is to own two of those clocks:
Full version with regular buttons for serious games (2hours for 40 moves plus 1 hour to end the game or simular) and
blitz version (Chronos GX is the latest model) for speed games!
Cons : It takes time to educate yourself on how to program Chronos, however once done you will enjoy this clock for years to come. Expensive : range of $80 -$125. Good deal at below $100.00
Chronos is recommended to US and Canadian players of all ranks.
DGT Project models:
Please note that ALL DGT CLOCKS ARE COMING FROM MANUFACTOR IN OPENED (NO SHRINK WRAP) BOXES. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NORMAL AND IS NOT AN INDICATION OF ITEM BEING USED OR COUNTERFEIT.
DGT projects produces five different models at the moment:
DGT XL, DGT 2000/2010, DGT Easy, DGT Easy Plus (Kramnik's choice) and Digiblitz.
DGT XL is the top of the line professional timer. It is approved by International Chess Federation (FIDE) for the whole spectrum of tournaments especially world title tournaments or FIDE title events tournament. It is well-designed and similar to Chronos it can be programmed for any possible modes you will ever need. Another cool feature is ability to use it when playing on-line. It can be connected to DGT sensory board, so that your moves and time can be transmitted to the Internet.
DGT XL is popular throughout the world, although in US Chronos and Excalibur models seem to prevail.
I recommend it to strong players and Internet chess enthusiasts.
DGT 2000 is a predecessor of DGT XL. Classic chess clock which has long history and is very well recieved throughout the world. It is approved by International Chess Federation (FIDE) for the whole spectrum of tournaments especially world title tournaments or FIDE title events tournaments. Please note that DGT 2000 has been discontinued and replaced with DGT 2010, better and cooler chess clock.
It is the most popular clock in South America and Australia.
Nice clock overall and it is cheaper than DGT XL, making it a good fit for clubs or world class events.
Most popular modes are supported. Somewhat difficult (although still possible) to set for delay modes.
DGT Easy and DGT Easy Plus (Kramnik's choice) : Well designed models targeted for scholastic audience. Yours truly has been a beta tester for DGT Easy Plus.
Great clocks, extremely easy to set. Limited in features, do not support periods.
Easy model comes in four great colors (blue, green, yellow and red).
Easy plus comes in black only. Easy plus supports increment and delay, with delay count down visibly displayed and I would recommend it to North American players, as delay is a requirenment in many US tournaments.
Excalibur Game Time II
Nice overall clock with all modes ever possible, delay is well supported, periods are supported. This clock is endosed by United States Chess Federation. It was an official clock of Chess Olimpiad in Turino. One of the best clock on the market at the moment and the price is reasonable.
The main problem of this clock is that it is not durable and won't survive more than 2-3 years of heavy use. Additionally battery compartment will become loose pretty quickly and will need some taping. In that respect Saitek Competion Pro clock is better option in my opinion for a slightly higher price.
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Finally, here is some advice on what to avoid.
There is one particular clock which should be avoided. It is a no-name clock which is produced by Cathay design and appears on Ebay from time to time for a range of $20.00-25.00. I am always amazed when an auction or listing description contains the word : "reliable", because this clock is everything but reliable. Cathay design doesn't have presense in North America and customer is at mercy of a seller to exchange the defective item.
Added April 2008. Ebay is full of those clocks with up to 10-15 listings available every day, so I asked one my vendors to let me know if quality improved in the last year. I was shocked to hear that according to him the quality of those clocks is actually got worse. He is now offering them without any warranty to protect himself. In fact many internet vendors hit with returns raised thier prices recently. My suggestion especially for clubs and schools is to stay away from this model, until quality is improved. Stay tuned for more updates.
This clock is of extremely poor quality and has problems with switch mechanism.Typically it is considered acceptable when there are 1-2 defective clocks for every 100. This model has 1-2 defective ones for every 10-20.
If you think this guide was helpful click on the yes button below.....Thanks, Mike
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