I recently purchased a Chess Clock on eBay and before I used it I wanted to make sure I was using it correctly.  To my surprise there was very little instructions to be found.  Chess Clocks have been used in for decades so I knew there had to be something; here is a summary:

What is a Chess Clock?  A chess clock has two clock faces each with a red flag that hangs down just left of the 12, a spinner that will show which clock is moving, and a button or lever above each clock face.  When a lever is depressed on one side it begins the opposite clock face to advance time.  There is NOT a per turn time limit.  Instead players may ration their time however they want. Time is counted down until it runs out. Each player has their own amount of time that runs down while it is their turn to move.  So, if I player was allocated a half-an-hour at the start of a game they could spend seconds on some turn and minutes on others, however they see fit, as long as they don't exceed the half-an-hour by the games end.

Purpose of a Chess Clock - Chess clocks give each player a certain amount of time to make all of their moves in a game. A typical game time would be anywhere between 45 min & 1 1/2 hours per player.  Note: the total game length possible is the addition of both players time allowed if the game is not ended by a checkmate before the time expires.

"Blitz" games allow for only 5 to 10 minutes per player, per game!

Usually both players start with the same amount of time, but you can allow younger or less experienced players to have a longer time than their opponent.  The game ends if one player runs out of time, is checkmated, or if there is a draw.  Even if you are a move away from checkmate – if your time runs out before you checkmate your opponent then they win the game.

What is the purpose of the red flags?  Basically they count down the last 4 mins of your time and when the minute hand (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.  This gives the precise time when a players time is up.  Therefore, you always set an analog clock backwards with the amount of time you want per player. So, if you wanted a 45 minute game, you would set the long hand to be on the 3 – exactly 45 minutes before the straight-up 12 position.

How do I set the time?  Analog chess clocks operate the same as most analog clocks.  There is simply double the devices.  You will have two winding mechanisms - - or key holes if your clocks are key wound.  There will be two setting arms.  Twist to move the hands.  Note: most people recommend you set your time backwards or counter-clockwise.  Also you should always stop your clocks from running when setting the time.

Can I use a Chess Clock for games other than chess?  Sure.  Anytime you have a 2-player game or activity that requires one side to wait for the other, or turn-based, where you want to keep the game moving you can use a chess clock.  A two person SCRABBLE game, STRATEGO, card games, GO, etc.  The key being TWO PLAYERS or TWO TEAMS.

UPDATE (This comes from an eBay member who read my guide): It is customary to set the clock so that at the time of expiration the clock would read 6:00.  As well as being consistent, this keeps the hour hand out of the way.  It is also customary to add one minute to the time at the beginning, to be sure each side has the minimum allowed time.  Thus, if the time control was "Sudden Death 90", both clocks would be set to 4:29 at the start of the game. 

Some serious tournaments had multiple time controls. You might, for example, be given 90 minutes to complete your first 40 moves, then 60 minutes to complete the next 20, then another 60 minutes...; or it might be 90 minutes for 40 moves, 60 minutes sudden death. In the case of any game with multiple time controls, any remaining time a player has from the first control is added to the second. So, in the first example of 40 moves/90 minutes and 20/60, if a player used only 78 minutes to complete his first 40 moves, he would then have 60 plus the unused 12 minutes (total = 72) to complete his next 20. Since the unused minutes are added to the second time control, and the second control was generally an hour, there was no need to reset the clock. The first time control expired when the clock read 6:00, the second when it read 7:00, and so on if necessary.

Thanks for emailing your comments to improve this guide, I welcome input on any of my guides/reviews. 

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