Sunday, June 17, 2007
I did it! I finally moved into the 21st century and purchased a digital chess clock. This may sound like a trivial matter to you, but for those that know me know that when I find something I like I stick with it. I've been exposed to all sorts of digital chess clocks at tournaments and in magazines for years now, but wouldn't abandon my trustworthy analog ticker. My reasons for this apparent unwavering devotion were due to a combination of personality traits and unfavorable experiences with owners of digital chess clocks at tournaments.
First let me confess about a few of my personality traits that you may also have and that is keeping you from trying and experiencing new things. Let me just come out and say that I'm cheap. Some people would use the word thrifty or smart shopper to describe me, but the truth of the matter is that I have a serious problem spending money. In most cases this isn't actually a problem, but sometimes I take it a little too far. This trait makes it hard for me to purchase something new when I already have something that works. Since I already had an analog clock that worked the need for a new clock was nonexistent. The second trait that kept me from upgrading is that I'm a romantic at heart. So what does this have to do with chess? Well there is something beautiful and romantic about using an analog clock. I'm not sure if it's because that's just the classical way of doing it or the ticking of the clock adds to the ambience of the game, but there is just something special to me about analog clocks. The third and probably main reason I wouldn't buy a digital clock is because everyone else was doing it. This may sound strange, but for some reason I like doing just the opposite of what is popular. This may be my attempt at individuality, but some popular trends are actually good. An attitude like this can actually cause you to fall behind the curve in some instances. Because of these personality traits a digital chess clock wasn't for me.
Several experiences at tournaments didn't help to change my attitude towards buying a new clock either. Inevitably at every tournament that I have attended there is what I call the pre-round running of the digital clocks. For those of you that either don't go to tournaments anymore or have never gone this is where right before a round at a tournament begins you see the mad dash of people with digital clocks trying to find someone who knows how to set them. These people run from table to table looking for anybody that has the slightest clue about setting their clock. This confusion annoyed me to say the least. This annoyance I directed towards the clock for being too complicated.
So what magical event overcame all of these obstacles? The truth is I don't know. I was just in a rare mood to try something new. I went to the internet and started looking around at what was out there and was surprised at how many options there actually was. I would like to cover how I chose the clock I actually came to purchase in detail, but I will save that for a future post. For now let's just say I compared several of the leading brands and decided to go with the Game Timer II by Excalibur.
I actually purchased this clock at the beginning of the year and I've used it at all the tournaments that I've played so far. I can say that this clock is amazing! I no longer have to wait for the tournament director to decide what time to set the clocks to. I only need the time control for the tournament and in less than a minute I'm ready to go. No longer am I burdened with remembering what time the game is over or exactly how many minutes are left on each clock. The Game Timer II takes care of all of this for me so I can concentrate on the game. One of the greatest advantages of a digital clock is the 5 second delay. This option protects a person from losing an obviously won game due to time. As long as you can make your move within 5 seconds no time is subtracted from your clock. I can't express how big of a deal this is. The second advantage is the fact that the display leaves nothing to interpretation. You know exactly how long you have left to play. The third thing that I was amazed at was just how easy setting this clock for game actually was. There are a ton of pre-programmed settings that cover just about every conceivable time control. Without exaggerating I can say that it takes me just a few seconds to have my clock ready for a game.
In short I like to say that I couldn't be happier with the performance of this clock. It has taken away another distraction that has nothing to do with the game. Above I've linked the manual for this clock. I considered listing all its functions, but I knew I would forget something and the manual could provide the information in a much better format. If you're considering purchasing a new clock anytime soon this may be the clock for you. If you have any questions please feel free to send me e-mail or better yet leave a comment so I can respond here and save myself from answering the same question multiple times.
First let me confess about a few of my personality traits that you may also have and that is keeping you from trying and experiencing new things. Let me just come out and say that I'm cheap. Some people would use the word thrifty or smart shopper to describe me, but the truth of the matter is that I have a serious problem spending money. In most cases this isn't actually a problem, but sometimes I take it a little too far. This trait makes it hard for me to purchase something new when I already have something that works. Since I already had an analog clock that worked the need for a new clock was nonexistent. The second trait that kept me from upgrading is that I'm a romantic at heart. So what does this have to do with chess? Well there is something beautiful and romantic about using an analog clock. I'm not sure if it's because that's just the classical way of doing it or the ticking of the clock adds to the ambience of the game, but there is just something special to me about analog clocks. The third and probably main reason I wouldn't buy a digital clock is because everyone else was doing it. This may sound strange, but for some reason I like doing just the opposite of what is popular. This may be my attempt at individuality, but some popular trends are actually good. An attitude like this can actually cause you to fall behind the curve in some instances. Because of these personality traits a digital chess clock wasn't for me.
Several experiences at tournaments didn't help to change my attitude towards buying a new clock either. Inevitably at every tournament that I have attended there is what I call the pre-round running of the digital clocks. For those of you that either don't go to tournaments anymore or have never gone this is where right before a round at a tournament begins you see the mad dash of people with digital clocks trying to find someone who knows how to set them. These people run from table to table looking for anybody that has the slightest clue about setting their clock. This confusion annoyed me to say the least. This annoyance I directed towards the clock for being too complicated.
So what magical event overcame all of these obstacles? The truth is I don't know. I was just in a rare mood to try something new. I went to the internet and started looking around at what was out there and was surprised at how many options there actually was. I would like to cover how I chose the clock I actually came to purchase in detail, but I will save that for a future post. For now let's just say I compared several of the leading brands and decided to go with the Game Timer II by Excalibur.
I actually purchased this clock at the beginning of the year and I've used it at all the tournaments that I've played so far. I can say that this clock is amazing! I no longer have to wait for the tournament director to decide what time to set the clocks to. I only need the time control for the tournament and in less than a minute I'm ready to go. No longer am I burdened with remembering what time the game is over or exactly how many minutes are left on each clock. The Game Timer II takes care of all of this for me so I can concentrate on the game. One of the greatest advantages of a digital clock is the 5 second delay. This option protects a person from losing an obviously won game due to time. As long as you can make your move within 5 seconds no time is subtracted from your clock. I can't express how big of a deal this is. The second advantage is the fact that the display leaves nothing to interpretation. You know exactly how long you have left to play. The third thing that I was amazed at was just how easy setting this clock for game actually was. There are a ton of pre-programmed settings that cover just about every conceivable time control. Without exaggerating I can say that it takes me just a few seconds to have my clock ready for a game.
In short I like to say that I couldn't be happier with the performance of this clock. It has taken away another distraction that has nothing to do with the game. Above I've linked the manual for this clock. I considered listing all its functions, but I knew I would forget something and the manual could provide the information in a much better format. If you're considering purchasing a new clock anytime soon this may be the clock for you. If you have any questions please feel free to send me e-mail or better yet leave a comment so I can respond here and save myself from answering the same question multiple times.
