What is the "increment" • page 1/1 • General Chess Discussion • lichess.org

jeffchess2022

I'm sorry, this must be obvious but what is the "increment" in seconds?
Like if it says 5+5 I assume you start with 5 minutes and then get 5 seconds to your time but when does that happen?
Do you like this? I find it confusing and distracting.
Thank you.

I'm sorry, this must be obvious but what is the "increment" in seconds? Like if it says 5+5 I assume you start with 5 minutes and then get 5 seconds to your time but when does that happen? Do you like this? I find it confusing and distracting. Thank you.

MohammedElasha

#2

5+3 means you have 5 minutes with 3 seconds increase on every move on chess
so 5+5 means you have 5 minutes with 5 seconds increase on every move on chess

5+3 means you have 5 minutes with 3 seconds increase on every move on chess so 5+5 means you have 5 minutes with 5 seconds increase on every move on chess

Toscani

#3

With a fixed time, chess is a race against time. Knowing when a time control ends forces players to simplifies the game sooner to meet deadlines. Increment time hides the end time. A player can then increase pressures and delay simplification. Increment time in Swiss tournaments causes an increase in the waiting time between rounds, but the delay in not seen in Arena tournaments. Quality over quantity is only possible with incremented bonus time, but the wait time between rounds increases and it also makes it hard to predict when the next Arena or Swiss tournament will start. The effects are more obvious when using the same room to play the tournaments one behind the other. On the internet, multiply tournaments could be running at the same time. Unfortunately if you want to play in the next tournament after playing an incremented tournament, you might not be joining the other tournament when it starts.

cashcow8

#4

5+5: the first one is in minutes and refers to the start time on your clock (5 minutes)
The second one is the increment and is in seconds. After each move, 5 seconds is added to your clock, so if you take 10 seconds on your move, your clock will drop to 4:50 but then when you play the move it goes back up to 4:55.

If you play your moves in 1 second your clock will go up 4 seconds each time. That gives you more time to play later.

In FIDE tournaments, pretty much all games are played with increment.
It's a good way to ensure you don't have games end as "dirty flagging" contests when the position is dead drawn but one player is running short of time (but is able to easily hold the draw with little thought).

There is another concept, not supported on lichess but popular in the USA which are "delay" clocks, invented (or promoted) by Bronstein. In such a clock, the delay is at the start of the move, before the clock decreases. If you have a 5 second delay then any move played in the first 5 seconds will not cause the clock to go down, after which the clock starts ticking down, but it can never go up.

In standard Shogi, they commonly use a clock that is a combination of a standard clock with no increment, and when that runs down, instead of losing, you switch to a delay clock, e.g. 10 seconds. That means when your initial clock runs down, all your subsequent moves must be played within 10 seconds (or you lose).

5+5: the first one is in minutes and refers to the start time on your clock (5 minutes) The second one is the increment and is in seconds. After each move, 5 seconds is added to your clock, so if you take 10 seconds on your move, your clock will drop to 4:50 but then when you play the move it goes back up to 4:55. If you play your moves in 1 second your clock will go up 4 seconds each time. That gives you more time to play later. In FIDE tournaments, pretty much all games are played with increment. It's a good way to ensure you don't have games end as "dirty flagging" contests when the position is dead drawn but one player is running short of time (but is able to easily hold the draw with little thought). There is another concept, not supported on lichess but popular in the USA which are "delay" clocks, invented (or promoted) by Bronstein. In such a clock, the delay is at the start of the move, before the clock decreases. If you have a 5 second delay then any move played in the first 5 seconds will not cause the clock to go down, after which the clock starts ticking down, but it can never go up. In standard Shogi, they commonly use a clock that is a combination of a standard clock with no increment, and when that runs down, instead of losing, you switch to a delay clock, e.g. 10 seconds. That means when your initial clock runs down, all your subsequent moves must be played within 10 seconds (or you lose).

pointlesswindows

#5

@jeffchess2022 said in #1:

I'm sorry, this must be obvious but what is the "increment" in seconds?
Like if it says 5+5 I assume you start with 5 minutes and then get 5 seconds to your time but when does that happen?
Do you like this? I find it confusing and distracting.
Thank you.

Yes I like. It often helps me in the endgame when I need time to not blunder a stalemate in a totally winning position or simply win with that extra 2 queens up. I don't find it distractive at all.

@jeffchess2022 said in #1: > I'm sorry, this must be obvious but what is the "increment" in seconds? > Like if it says 5+5 I assume you start with 5 minutes and then get 5 seconds to your time but when does that happen? > Do you like this? I find it confusing and distracting. > Thank you. Yes I like. It often helps me in the endgame when I need time to not blunder a stalemate in a totally winning position or simply win with that extra 2 queens up. I don't find it distractive at all.

Bellendo

#6

I'm still just getting used to the increment after 160 games of 30/20 over nearly a year. I find it hard to judge whether I am playing quickly enough, and have also lost games that I thought were all over because my opponent was going to run out of time. This is because I always played fixed time for years on another site, and I am only just starting to get to grips with the +20.

I would have to say that I generally prefer fixed time just because I am more used to it. It seems much harder to exploit a time advantage when your opponent can play several quick moves and get out of trouble. Having said that, more often than not its me that is under time pressure because my brain is slow.

I'm still just getting used to the increment after 160 games of 30/20 over nearly a year. I find it hard to judge whether I am playing quickly enough, and have also lost games that I thought were all over because my opponent was going to run out of time. This is because I always played fixed time for years on another site, and I am only just starting to get to grips with the +20. I would have to say that I generally prefer fixed time just because I am more used to it. It seems much harder to exploit a time advantage when your opponent can play several quick moves and get out of trouble. Having said that, more often than not its me that is under time pressure because my brain is slow.

Toscani

#7

I like increment time because lag switchers don't get a chance to affect my game with +3 seconds of increment time.
I can play 0+3 and still have a stress free game against a lag switcher.

I like increment time because lag switchers don't get a chance to affect my game with +3 seconds of increment time. I can play 0+3 and still have a stress free game against a lag switcher.