Slower Time Controls

Over the last couple months, I've made the switch from occasional play to actually devoting time to improving. The advice that's helped me the most is switching to slower time controls. I found so much value in moving from blitz to 15|10, that I now prefer even slower games than that. The problem I'm now facing is that the only default time controls slower than 15|10 are 30|0 and 60|0. With no increment, I've found myself in a winning position, or at least up material, in several 30|0 games that I end up losing on time. I realize I could move to 60|0 to have more time, but I feel like having that guaranteed 5,10, or 15 seconds per move would be much more valuable to those looking to learn and improve, rather than just taking a bigger clock upfront, which can still lead to a bullet style endgame. I also realize that the custom time control feature offers the time controls I'm suggesting, but I can't ever seem to find an opponent when I attempt to play at 30min with 5,10, or 15 seconds increment. I'd love to see one of those three options, or something similar, offered as a default time control for those of us looking to learn and improve at a more comfortable pace.

you used the feature to set your own time limit. you have to be patient for an opponent to accept that Time Control. Why do you think it would be better if Chess . com would offer your preferred time limit as a choice ? The game would appear the same way as an available, open game for people to click and challenge you.

I'm quite aware of the fact that it requires a good bit of patience to find an opponent using my preferred time control, which is why I'm recommending a change and asking for the opinions of other players. 

My reason for encouraging beginners and amateurs to play slower games with an increment, as opposed to flat time, was included briefly in my original post, but I'm happy to elaborate. As a newer player myself (1100-1200), I'm still learning how to avoid blunders, recognize tactics, analyze candidate moves, etc. Utilizing and strengthening these skills while managing time is a tall order at my level, which is why I believe playing slower games is necessary for improvement. With flat time controls such as 30|0, it's far too easy for newer players who haven't development strong clock management skills to get themselves into deep time trouble during middle game analysis, leading to a bullet style endgame with no room for critical thinking. 

Of course I realize that any player can learn and grow to avoid this issue, but my understanding of how slower games are played in almost all serious settings leads me to believe that it's not a problem worth solving. I have very little experience in the world of chess, but it seems to me that you'd be hard pressed to a serious chess tournament, or even a local club, that plays with slower/classical time controls, but doesn't offer a delay or increment. If I'm correct in this inference, then I would argue that it would make more sense to teach beginners and amateurs to play their slower games with an increment or delay to prepare them for what they'll encounter out in the "real world" of chess. That's my case for why I would prefer that time control, and I welcome anyone's opinion of my reasoning, as again, I'm pretty new to all this. 

Now, why would I make it a default time control? That's easy. Because people would use it. Without any way of knowing, I'd wager that the percentage of live games on chess.com that are played at a default time control option is over 99%. I don't have any problem finding a 30|20 game on Lichess, because it's an option. Likewise, I doubt there's a ton of 60|0 or 5|5 traffic over there, because those aren't default options on Lichess. If a single addition to the available options might strongly encourage players to experience a time control beneficial to their improvement, why not take the time to make a small change?

TL;DR I'm not asking the site to install a new time control just because it's what I like and I think I deserve my own time control. I'm recommending it in a public forum because I genuinely believe it would be beneficial to beginners and amateurs that are serious about improvement, and I'd love to hear if others agree or disagree. 

If I had my choice, I think I'd pick 30|15, but I'd be very grateful to have anything similar in the future. What do you think?

One of the ideas of the increment is to allow players that are way ahead in material to be able to comfortably see their big advantage thru and not be worried they will lose at any second ( even though a Queen ahead, etc ) If it physically takes about 2 to 3 seconds to comfortably make a move, then why not an increment of at most 5 seconds ? My "vote" is for 30/5 or 45/5 or 60/5.

YES, people should play with slower time limits to improve their chess. Some players are very good at 1 or 2 minute chess with no increment. However their successful chess strategies at those time limits are more of the "coffeehouse" variety, then solid chess strategy..