Home › Blog › How to Use a Chess Clock: Rules, Increment vs Delay
A chess clock is two linked countdown timers, and only one runs at a time. Set both sides to the agreed time, start White's clock, and after each move press your own side with the same hand you moved with, which stops your time and starts your opponent's. If your time runs out, you lose, though under FIDE rules it's a draw if your opponent can't possibly checkmate you.
I build Checkmate IRL, which has a chess clock of its own. The rules below come from the FIDE Laws of Chess, in force since 1 January 2023, and the US Chess rulebook (7th edition), with article numbers so you can check them.
It's 2 linked timers, and only one runs at a time. FIDE defines a chess clock as "a clock with two time displays, connected to each other" (Article 6.1). Each display counts down one player's time for the whole game.
After your move, you pause your own clock and start your opponent's. Under Article 6.2.1, that press is what "completes" the move. A move that ends the game, such as checkmate or stalemate, is complete without one.
When a player's time reaches zero, the rules call it flag-fall.
Press the clock with the hand you moved with, handle it gently, and if your time runs out you lose unless your opponent can't checkmate you.
| Rule | What it means | FIDE article |
|---|---|---|
| Pressing completes the move | You move, pause your clock and start your opponent's | 6.2.1 |
| Same hand | Press with the hand you moved with | 6.2.3 |
| Handle it gently | No slamming, lifting or pressing before moving | 6.2.4 |
| Starting the game | White's clock is started at the set start time | 6.6 |
| Time-out | You lose, unless your opponent can't checkmate you by any series of legal moves, which makes it a draw | 6.9 |
| Pausing | Only to get the arbiter's help | 6.11 |
| Illegal move | Your opponent gets 2 extra minutes, 1 in rapid and blitz; a second illegal move loses | 7.5.5, A.3, B.3 |
| Phones | Any electronic device the arbiter hasn't approved loses you the game | 11.3.2 |
US Chess handles time-outs more narrowly. Rule 14E makes a time-out a draw only in listed cases: your opponent has a lone king, a king and bishop or king and knight with no forced win, or a king and 2 knights while you have no pawns. Only the players may call a flag (13C1), and it counts as fallen once either one points it out (16E).
The first number is each player's base time in minutes. The second is the increment, in seconds added per move. So 90+30 is 90 minutes each plus 30 seconds a move. US Chess writes the same control as G/90 inc/30, and a delay control as G/30 d/5 (5B2).
FIDE counts the base time plus 60 times the increment, which is a player's time over a 60-move game. That total decides the category.
| Category | FIDE rule (base + 60 × increment) | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Blitz | 10 minutes or less (Appendix B.1) | 3+2 = 5, 5+3 = 8 |
| Rapid | More than 10 and less than 60 minutes (Appendix A.1) | 10+5 = 15, 15+10 = 25 |
| Standard (classical) | 60 minutes or more, since anything shorter is rapid or blitz; FIDE's rating rules set minimums of 60, 90 or 120 minutes by rating level | 45+15 = 60, 90+30 = 120 |
| Bullet | An online term with no FIDE category | 1+0 online |
That's why 10+5 counts as rapid: the 5-second increment adds 5 minutes to the 10-minute base.
FIDE calls 90+30 the traditional minimum for high-level classical chess. A 2026 pilot allows 60+30 at approved tournaments, and FIDE's General Assembly backed shorter classical controls on 12 October 2026, though the rules themselves haven't changed yet.
For a casual game, 5+3 and 10+5 are common choices. US Chess (5E) suggests 2 seconds of increment or delay for a base of 10 minutes or less, 3 seconds for a base under 30 minutes, and 5 to 30 seconds for a base of 30 minutes or more.
Both give you a cushion on every move. Increment adds time that can build up. Delay gives you a free window on each move, and your main time never climbs above where that move started.
With a 5-second setting and 57 seconds left at the start of your move:
| Mode | Move in 2 seconds | Move in 10 seconds | Can time build up? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fischer increment | 60 | 52 | Yes |
| Simple delay | 57 | 52 | No |
| Bronstein delay | 57 | 52 | No |
Simple and Bronstein delay give the same result and only display it differently, as a US Chess TD tip under 5B1 points out.
US Chess gives no official reason, but its standard settings lean on delay: a 5-second delay for regular or dual-rated games and a 3-second delay for quick games, against a 30-second increment for regular games and nothing for blitz.
The usual argument from tournament directors on its forum is that delay keeps round lengths predictable, because a player can't bank time.
Pick a preset or set your own time and increment, then start the clock. These steps follow the DGT 2010, a common budget tournament clock, and its v1.3 manual from 2012:
Useful presets in that list: 15 is 3 minutes + 2 seconds, 17 is 1 hour 30 + 30 seconds, 18 is a manual increment and 25 is a manual Bronstein delay. Newer units may number them differently, so go by the list on the bottom of your clock.
The DGT 2010 has no simple (US) delay mode. The 2 delays give the same result, and a US Chess TD note says the clock "uses Bronstein mode instead of delay".
An analog clock is simpler: wind it and set both faces so the first time control runs out at 6 o'clock (US Chess 16B1). It can't add increment or delay, and US Chess ranks analog clocks last among acceptable clocks (5F1a, 5F2a).
For casual and club games, yes. At FIDE-rated events, Article 11.3.2 bans any electronic device the arbiter hasn't approved, so a phone clock is out. US Chess has no rule on clock apps, and a TD may require phones to be switched off. Our comparison of chess clock apps and physical clocks covers which apps handle which controls.
The Checkmate IRL chess clock has presets from bullet to classical plus custom times, with increment and simple delay, and you need an account to use it. It saves the result, time control, date, move count and time used, which is how it tracks over-the-board games; keep a scoresheet for the moves. When both players have accounts, rated games feed an offline rating that runs on Glicko-1. It's free with an optional Pro plan and has no ads. The venue map shows places to play near you.
Who starts the chess clock? FIDE (6.6) and US Chess (16I) say only that White's clock is started at the start time. In casual play, Black usually presses to start it. At a US Chess event, if Black is absent, White starts their own clock, moves, then starts Black's (16J).
Do you have to press the chess clock with the same hand? Yes. FIDE Article 6.2.3 and US Chess rule 16C1 both require the hand you moved with.
What happens when your time runs out in chess? You lose on time. Under FIDE (6.9) it's a draw if your opponent can't checkmate you by any series of legal moves. US Chess (14E) draws only in listed cases, such as your opponent having a lone king.
Is 10+5 blitz or rapid? Rapid, by FIDE's count. Base time plus 60 times the increment comes to 15 minutes, above the 10-minute blitz limit.
What's the difference between simple delay and Bronstein delay? The result is the same. Simple delay waits before your main time runs. Bronstein counts down, then gives back the time you used, up to the delay.
What happens if you press the clock without moving? FIDE treats it as an illegal move (7.5.3). Your opponent gets 2 extra minutes, or 1 in rapid and blitz, and a second illegal move loses.
Can you stop the chess clock during a game? Only to get the arbiter's help, for example to make a claim or when no piece is available for a promotion (FIDE 6.11). US Chess lets a player stop both clocks to make a claim (5I).
How do you set a DGT 2010 for 5+3? Pick option 18, the manual increment in the v1.3 list, then enter 5 minutes and a 3-second bonus. Preset 22 looks similar but uses a 3-second Bronstein delay. Check the list on the bottom of your clock first.
Checkmate IRL is the companion app for over-the-board chess: a chess clock that saves your results, an offline rating, and a map of places to play near you.