Time Trouble Mode

Hello everyone.  I just wanted to ask some questions.  I get in big time pressure in 30 minute scholastic games.  Because I play 15-30 second blitz frequently, I usually rise to the challenge.  After mating somebody with 4 seconds left on my clock, my team coach got mad at me.  He said that I was moving on my opponent's time and was using two hands to hit the clock.  He said that next time he would turn me in.  Because I am in such sever time trouble, I am not thinking about the rules and go into sudden-death blitz mode.  Other than using less time to think about my other moves, how can I avoid this situation?

hmm first of all I think there is no such thing as moving on your opponent's time.  Once he has released his piece, he has committed to his move, so make yours.  It's his problem if he takes all day to punch the clock.  As for using 2 hands, this is a weird one.  You should be so used to using the same hand that you should 'catch yourself in the act' if you try to use 2 hands, so you would only do it once in a game, and it probably wouldnt save you any time.  I've caught myself doing it once or twice, and it always costs me time as I react to what I'm doing and am caught between hitting the button and using my other hand.  Practice I guess would help.  If you're desperate, sit on your other hand, or hold a pen or something. 

I think what the coach meant was that he was moving with one hand and hitting the clock. And I guess that from time to time he hit the clock fractionally before he finished moving his piece; in this sense he would then be moving on his opponent's time - and that's why you shouldn't use two hands of course.

It was kinda like the US Womens championship what Zatonskih was doing.  Same kind of scenario.

I think I know what you mean, but if it's what I think, she was imo making a fuss out of nothing, because there's nothing wrong with moving once your opponent has release the piece.  your opponent then moves when you've released yours and so on.  Never have I see people sit around and wait for their opponent to hit the button first.  The game would look silly.  Who knows, you maybe have different rules in the uscf.  I guess you have to do what your coach says, but if that's a rule, imo it is a stupid one.  You watch the board, not the clock. 

Speed chess in extreme-time-trouble-mode has always struck me as absurd, undignified, non-chess... chess should never be a test of manual dexterity IMO. And the rules are unclear (as was evidenced in L'affair Krush), and never strictly, or consistently enforced.

Not that this answers your question...  Can you move on your opponent's time? I dunno... I think it's up to whoever's in charge of the game at the time... I was a  goalkeeper (soccer) in college. My coach wouldn't let me move off the goal-line on penalty kicks until the ball had been kicked -- that's the rule! he'd say... I'd say, I know the damn rule but did you ever watch a professional soccer game? The keeper come off the line early -- it helps!  Anyone who remembers the US women win the women's world cup on penalty kicks knows what I'm talking about. Sorry if that was a gratuitous aside, but I guess the point is that the rules are whatever the ref at the time says they are -- I find chess "officiating" often to have a "make it up as you go along" flavor, as happens in other contests, sometimes not such minor affairs, either.

sstteevveenn wrote:

I think I know what you mean, but if it's what I think, she was imo making a fuss out of nothing, because there's nothing wrong with moving once your opponent has release the piece.  your opponent then moves when you've released yours and so on.  Never have I see people sit around and wait for their opponent to hit the button first.  The game would look silly.  Who knows, you maybe have different rules in the uscf.  I guess you have to do what your coach says, but if that's a rule, imo it is a stupid one.  You watch the board, not the clock. 

 but I think the problem is he is hitting the clock with one hand *before* he makes his move with the other hand. That surely is wrong.

Once, I was playing with this guy. He checkmated me when he had, like, half a second left.

That would be wrong I agree, but he mentioned the krush thing, which was regarding making a move and pressing the clock quicker than the opponent who was being slow about it, with the effect of her time not going down.

I hit the clock after I moved and released the piece.  Regardless of what people think, blitz in extreme time trouble mode really helps and has helped me salvage many victories or get a material edge to where I can call either draw by insufficent losing chances or call 2 second delay if the position is more unclear.

I must say that I think that a any game that comes down to who can move their peice and hit the clock the quickest doesn't deserve any credibility as being better than someone else, nor is it chess.

I don't see any skill in being able to "beat" your opponent because you move faster. I was very upset with the whole Zatonskih thing...  I mean, if you have spent the majority of your life in chess, trying to become the best.... you've memorized all kinds of lines, tactics, endgames etc...  You've spent countless hours preparing for a match, and the big moment comes, and you lose because your opponent taps the clock faster when you both have 3 seconds left???  Thats absurd.

Now, I understand the other side as well...  those who say that the clock is part of chess, just like the Queen.  But I disagree with that as well. Call me old fashioned, but I sincerly think that the best chess player in the world should not be decided with a time-limit match (within reason, a whole day for 1 move would be crazy too). I think clock's ruin competitive chess.

I think that your coach is completely wrong. While it is illegal to hit the clock with a different hand than the piece, there is no USCF rule against moving on an opponent's time. I believe that it is a FIDE rule. It is your opponent's responsibility to report rule infractions, and even if your coach did report you, it would go under the category of 20E2: Unsolicited advice, and he would be ejected from the tournament. You would not be punished.

Cool.  Now I can move on my opponent's time!