Chess Clock
Two-player chess clock + increment
Keyboard: A P1 done · L P2 done · Space pause
Time control
About Chess Clock
What an online chess clock is for
A chess clock is two countdown timers sharing one rule: only the side whose turn it is runs down. Originally invented in 1883 for over-the-board (OTB) chess, the same mechanism now powers debate timing, Magic: The Gathering tournaments, blind chess variants, and any two-party turn-based activity where each side gets a fixed budget.
This page gives you a fully featured clock in your browser — no app to install, no physical clock to buy, no Bluetooth pairing.
Time controls explained
- Base time — the total seconds each player gets at the start (e.g. 5 minutes for blitz)
- Fischer increment — adds time after every move you make. The clock can grow. Default in online chess.
- Bronstein delay — adds time after every move, but only up to what you actually spent. The clock can never grow above the base. Standard at elite OTB tournaments.
- Simple delay — the clock pauses for X seconds at the start of each move before running. Used in US Chess events.
For a non-chess use (e.g. debate or board games), Fischer is usually what you want: it rewards quick play without ever penalising a careful think.
Built-in presets
Bullet 1+0, Bullet 2+1, Blitz 3+2, Blitz 5+0, Rapid 10+0, Rapid 15+10, Classical 30+30, Debate 3-minute. One tap loads any of them.
Why use this over a physical clock
- It's in your pocket. Any phone or tablet is now a tournament-quality clock.
- No drift. Mechanical clocks drift; this one uses your device's wall-clock timestamp.
- Flag-fall detection. When time runs out, the clock beeps and announces the winner — no arguments about who flagged first.
- Two-tap mode. Each side taps their own panel to switch. Or use A / L hotkeys for desktop.
Frequently asked questions
Both add time after every move. With Fischer, the increment is added unconditionally — if you have 5:00 left and play a move with 2 sec increment, you now have 5:02. With Bronstein, the increment is capped at the time you actually spent — if you played instantly, you get nothing back; if you spent 1 sec, you get 1 sec back; if you spent 10 sec on a 2-sec Bronstein, you only get the 2 sec. Bronstein keeps the clock from growing forever.
Yes — it's commonly used for Go, Shogi, Magic: The Gathering, debate prep, two-speaker timing, and any turn-based negotiation. Set base time to whatever your format needs.
Their side flashes red and animates 'pulse' as the clock crosses 30 seconds, then plays a beep and freezes at 00:00 when the flag falls. The other side is declared the winner and the rematch button resets to your last preset.
Yes — tap your side of the screen to pass the turn. The top panel is rotated 180° so two players sitting across a table both see their clock right-side-up.
Yes — switch between Fischer, Bronstein, and Simple Delay in the time-control panel. Fischer is the default because it matches online platforms like Chess.com and Lichess.
No — the timer uses wall-clock timestamps, so if you switch tabs the active player keeps losing time. This matches real-world clock behaviour.
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