Life In 19x19

Hi, I'm currently trying to decide on which Chronos clock to buy. I don't have the option of actually touching any so before I buy one I wanted to check for opinions here.

as you know, my options are:

1) GX model - I'm a bit put off by the "simplified" part of it. I'm not quite sure what is removed but you get less of a user manual. I don't care about the fact it's smaller. I want to get the "mother of all chess/go/scrabble clocks"
2) "1" model - push button.
3) "2" model - touch sensor.

http://www.chesshouse.com/chess_clocks_s/6.htm

I actually like #3 best (in black of course) my hands are fine (it's described as good for people with arthritis, though I don't see how you'd be playing Go if that was a problem) - but I like the fact that there's no moving part, so it should last longer. But I suppose what I'm really keen to know is, how much of a hassle is the touch sensor? I have some touch sensor kitchen scales which I sometimes have to lick my finger to get to work (so maybe I do have dodgy fingers just in a different way!), not the sort of thing I want to do in byoyomi . I don't suppose Chronos could sell a model that was that bad though.

thx

I really like the touch sensor, but you do have to get used to very confused opponents for a little while. The first time they want to bang it and get confused when there's no push back.

Other than that, I've had no problems with it.

I have the classic Chronos chess clock and it works great, I am very happy with it. I do want a click when I press it though so I would go for the normal not the touch one.

Ok, thanks guys!

I have only been forced to play with a clock at one event, the US Go Congress in Seattle back in the 1996 or so. There were not enough of the Ing Go Clocks to go around so many of us used conventional analog chess clocks.

I really enjoyed the gentle ticking sound effect, the subtle movement of the little red flags and the definitive mechanical thunk when the turn button was depressed.

My shell and slate stones seem to want the older, funkier analog clocks but I'm never going to play against a clock again if I have any choice.

Is there an iPad app for a chess or go clock?

sure, yes there are (and for Android too), though I quite like the idea of a physical item rather than a phone app - in fact I think the Chronos clocks are quite pretty in their own way.

CnP wrote:sure, yes there are (and for Android too), though I quite like the idea of a physical item rather than a phone app - in fact I think the Chronos clocks are quite pretty in their own way.

a little research turned up many chess clock apps but only a few were programmable for go and the numerous byo yomi variants. Most had received poor reviews for their diffult interfaces and weirdly gross presentations. This implies chess people are both lousy programmers and failed graphics designers but that's a flame war we don't need to start.

Have you seen the current Sherlock Holmes action movie, "Game of Shadows?" Holmes and Moriarty play blitz chess while their machinations unfold in another room. They use an old chess timepiece I had never seen before: two small clocks on a base that pivots on a lever like a teeter-totter. Now that would be a cool accessory to have sitting next to your elegantly traditional Japanese set.

ah right. There are a few specifically for Go available on the Android market though. I'm surprised there isn't one for iphone.

I do not own a physical clock for gaming, but I got a virtual one. Since this thread topic has changed slightly, I will give my 2 cents. I have used this one for my ipod touch: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app//id426176148?mt=8

I think it works well and has the necessary canadian and Japanese time systems. The final 10 second warning is a bit off, but hopefully the developer will fix it. For only 1 dollar it is worth the price, I think.

Bogiesan had created a thread for this: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5179

I use a clock called Excalibur game time II digital chess clock, priced between 20-30$, which is quite less than Chronos' and it's been working for the last two years... and everyone enjoys hitting the f**** clock when it announces the end of byo-yomi periods.

For Android there are a few of virtual clocks, but I found "Chess Clock for Android" to be the best one, handling japanese byo-yomi (the one I'm most used to). There are other go clocks around, but with very little features available.

alejo wrote:For Android there are a few of virtual clocks, but I found "Chess Clock for Android" to be the best one, handling japanese byo-yomi (the one I'm most used to). There are other go clocks around, but with very little features available.

Thanks alejo, I had another one, but this is much better!

I own a Chronos II - that's the one with the touch sensors. It's brilliant.

It could be better - for example, it could offer capped Fisher time (or spilling Fisher time) as a first-class mode, instead of a hack. Other than that, I can't think of anything it could improve on.

One of the members of the local club has a wooden clock called a "Duel Timer" or something similar. That thing looks a lot nicer than my Chronos II which, frankly, is a bit of a growler, but the Chronos is completely bomb-proof. I have no fear that someone will spill their tea on it and kill it, or send it flying to its demise in a tournament.

I own a DGT XL, and I love it - mostly because I can any combination of timing systems (and it includes a lot by default) and store them as I want them, so I prerecord pedantically set controls for whatever mood I'm in

I have a Chronos GX touch clock that I bought a few years ago. Now that I am going to my first Go tournament, I need help programming it. In particular, I know how to change the game time but not the byo-yomi time (or the number of periods for that matter). The default byo-yomi setting is five 1-minute periods. My GX manual only gives Go-C and Go-J presets. Online Chronos manuals list more settings, such as Go-J1 and Go-J2, so maybe I cannot change this setting in my older model? Any help will be gratefully received.