Confused by custom time options

So I'm an idiot, and I can't understand the time options in the custom settings (and after googling am even more confused.)

There's '5, 3 and 1 min' which I initially thought meant per move and was baffled to find are the total time allotted for the game (how are you supposed to win a game in one minute?)

And then there's things like 3|2 and 1|1 which look like some kind of ratio?

I'm looking for a time option that puts an obligatory 'x' minutes/seconds between moves. Does this exist?

No, there aren't any time controls like that because some moves are simple or even forced and others offer many difficult choices.

You haven't played any games at all here. 10 minutes per side is the most popular control here.  Why not give it a try?  If it's too fast or too slow, you can try the other controls. You will soon figure out what you are comfortable with.

the standard 5, 3, and 1 min time controls are called ‘blitz’ and ‘bullet’. They are not meant to be played like a classical game, and under the Watch tab, you can watch the best players on the site play them if you want to know how it’s done. As for the ‘ratios’, the second number is what’s known as increment. this means that for every move you make, a certain amount of time is added to your clock. for example, 3|2 means that you start with 3 minutes per side for the game, and every move that you make, 2 seconds are added to your clock. however, your clock still goes down like normal. I don’t think what you’re saying, x time per move, exists outside of daily games. daily games are games that you can close and come back to, and have a large amount of time per move, like correspondence games. for example, 3 day daily games means that you have 3 days to make a move, which sounds like it is what you are looking for.

Ah okay, thank you. Yeah I’ve just been playing the bots to try to learn. The idea was to force myself to pause between moves as I have a bad habit of taking the first decent-looking opening without thinking through the possibilities.

For longer times consider G30 (30 minute game), G60 (60 minute game) and 45|45 (45 minute game with 45 second increment per move). Also Daily of course. The longer rapid times are less popular so you may have to wait longer for a game when you generate a challenge but there are plenty of players.

I will point out that Daily games actually follow the time format you described - you get a set number of days (1-14) to make each and every move, and if you fail to make a move within that time you'll lose. Daily games are quite great for new players because you can play without major time pressure.

Otherwise you should play rapid games - I'd recommend either 15|10 or 30|0. One minute games can be really fun at times but they're definitely not suitable for beginners.

Time Controls - Everything You Wanted To Know...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/time-controls-everything-you-wanted-to-know