Chess Clocks Today

Well, I'm the de facto chess equipment guy in our area and club, whether I want to be or not.

Last night after the first round of our city championship and at 11:00 pm, my friend asked me about the chess clocks I was supposed to get for the club, 12 of them.  It seems that I missed last week's board meeting where they approved buying these clocks to have for our upcoming weekend tournament where we will be using increment for the first time.  And I was voted to buy the clocks.  And I did find out about it last night for the first time.  Thanks guys.

So, I talked with the president and TD about what we wanted and of course they want an inexpensive clock that is capable of increment as well as delay, and did I mention they want it cheap?

So, I got on the internet and phone looking for clocks and prices.  Here's where I ended up:

1. There are really very few chess clocks that are inexpensive anymore and those that are not expensive certainly are more than what the others used to be.  In fact prices are now higher than a few months ago.

2. The Excalibur GameTime II is done and gone.  Cajun Chess has 4 left and most of them are red.  No one else has any listed or in stock for sale.

3. Likewise the Saitek clocks, both blue and silver are pretty much gone.  I did see them on one site, that I now forget, and they were expensive.  Otherwise no place has them for sale.

4. That leaves the DGT North American and ZMF-II in the around fifty dollar price range.  Sure there's the Easy Plus DGT but that cannot handle more than one time control, so it's not a serious contender to own.

5. The DGT NA lists for $49.95 pretty much everywhere and more in some places.  Getting a volume discount is not a happy endeavor when they start at $50 for a clock that we used to be able to buy for $40.

6. Chess Central has the DGT NA listed at $44.95 and this is where I got the best volume deal for the 12 clocks.

7. If anyone wants a DGT NA and doesn't want to spend more than they need, Amazon has them for $41 and change.  Prime members get free shipping so that's a great price.

8. The House of Staunton, also known as USCF Sales has a new clock that lists for $44.95.  It is an Omcor brand clock that is made in China and sold out of Mexico.  In fact they say it is the official clock of the Mexican Chess Federation.

The clock is basically a no name and looking at it gives me the nervous willies that it would not hold up and break pretty easily and quickly.  Plus I only could find it for sale at The House of Staunton/USCF Sales.

9. The ZMF-II was ruled out early by the president and others because the time on the clock disappears while thee delay countdown is happening and the flashing LEDs put them off.  They do not take this clock seriously.

10. While I was looking, the high end clocks of any significance seem to be only the DGT 3000.  The Chronos is available at only 2 or so places and it is running $115.  I understand from some here that it can be had cheaper, but that seems difficult to find.

Yes, there is a new clock coming out from Shelby Lohrman and his partner in this in the next 1 1/2 - 2 months.  But that guy is going to be priced at $149.  Even at a non-discounted rate for the DGT NA you could buy 3 of those for one of these new ones.

Don't get me wrong.  I plan on buying a couple of these new clocks when they come out because it will be the best, hands down.  But when talking with people that want only one clock it will be hard to look at them honestly and tell them they need to spend the extra $50 over the DGT 3000.  I used mine in my G/90, d/5 city championship game last night, and it worked just fine.

So, that's what I have found on the chess clock market here in the U.S. as of today.

I wish there were more choices available, but at this time in history there aren't.

The people at ZMF chess clocks keep updating their clock firmware all the time. Their latest clocks have different options to display the delay. They have a new updated user manual in their website. I love their clocks specially to play blitz.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DGT-North-American-Digital-Chess-Timer-Clock-NEW-in-a-sealed-box-/290955572669?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43be4db5bd This Guy an ebayer is a great seller on ebay I got an DGT xl from him gives volume discount.

Here in germany most clubs have the DGT 2000 / 2010 clocks, which are like the DGT NA. Some clubs have old silver saiteks.

And there are these clocks: http://eurochessinternational.com/products1.html  or https://www.schachversand.de/startseiteenglisch.html?Seite=e/detail/material/1997.html

Cheaper then the DGT 2010. Maybe you can get them in the USA. In germany they are the only available and FIDE certified alternatives to the DGT clocks.

Nice post.  We've got pretty much the same selection up here in Canada, just with the inflated Canadian prices.  I'm looking forward to seeing the Lohrman clock.  Hopefully, they'll be able to keep up with demand better than the Chronos makers have.

OmcorChess GT 960 has a website http://www.omcorchess.com/us/ it is for wholesale but you can get the clocks at wholesale or staunton

http://www.wholesalechess.com/shop/chess-clocks/digital-chess-clocks/omcor-gt-960-usb 

http://www.houseofstaunton.com/omcor-chess-set-combination.html

Its a sturdy clock with a lot of functions

With the DGT N/A selling for as low as $34.95 shipped as of today they will have a rough road ahead of them although it is a good looking clock.  Does it show seconds all the time even for times above 20 minutes?  That is the one complaint I have with the DGT N/A, no seconds above 20 minutes.

I thought Frank C. was working on a Gametime 3 but I guess that's not happening.

If you want both increment and delay, the DGT NA is clearly the most economical buy.  I wouldn't call it inexpensive, though.

I see no fewer than 3 companies offering the DGT N/A for under $40 delivered and one under $35 so it is inexpensive for what it does as well as its reliability.

wiscmike wrote:

....... although it is a good looking clock.

Are you referring to the Oncor clocks? Because these Oncor clocks are really ugly.

I don't know if people are still reading this post, but I will reply anyway. It's not only a matter of prices and availability. For official tournaments a clock has to be FIDE certified. That greatly limits the options. As far as I know only DGT2010 (NA and regular), DGT3000 en DGTXL are certified. The old DGT2000 has lost it's licence; DGT Easy Game Timer and clocks of other brands never were certified. This is not without reason.

So if you want to use the clocks for serious gameplay I would say, use one of the 3 certified clocks.

Of course this is true for FIDE rated events, only.

And at most FIDE events, the equipment is provided by the organizer.

The clock http://www.eurochessinternational.com/products1.html is also FIDE certified, as written before. But i prefer playing with DGT clocks (DGT 2010 in my club, DGT 3000 at home).