I suspect that the blitz game timers are somehow, sometimes not accurate

In recent weeks I've mostly switched over to playing only ultra fast games (like 1 ~ 3 min per side) but I've noticed some really surprising results.

In some cases, watching the timer doesn't seem to reflect what's being "recorded", with opponent being awarded game on time, despite being far behind by the clock.

I even just watched an opponent's clock run completely out, with several seconds on mine, then they won !

If it's happening to me, it must be happening to others.

Is there some way to add a record of move times to the archived games so that any such anomalies might be reviewed ?

Probably bad connection.

What happens is that you lose connection, and see there clock running down until you regain connection, when it shows you how much time they actually have.

No the connection is not the problem, or at least that's not showing up on-screen.

I'm aware that sometimes it may seem as though there's a timing error, so I've watched, when possible without losing track of the game itself.

I'm pretty sure there are some inaccurate times being decided, which is why I think adding that info to the game record would be good.

No, it won't show it on the screen if the connection isn't lost.

But that doesn't mean it can't be the result of a bad connection.

However if the games functioning at a given tempo, with no delays between oves registering, that indicates no connectivity problem.

Thatere's also an indicator of connection strength shown during play.

Trust me, those wren't factors in what I'm discussing.

A three minute game here (or on fics) takes much longer to complete than a three minute game on icc or playchess

What you are seeing is lag.  Lag is the delay between the time a move is made and the time the move is received by the server.  On most chess servers, the clock time ticks down, but when a move is actually registered the clock "corrects" to whatever the time was when that person's turn began minus the amount of time registered by their computer that they took to make the move.  This will appear to add time to the clock (the transmission time from their computer to the server is not accounted for in that calculation).  Lag can be small enough that this is not noticeable, to large enough that it appears players are regaining large chunks of time every move.  Lag is transient (constantly changing) so the connection indicator at the top of the screen (which may not even measure lag, and if so may not do so accrately...maybe it measures packet loss) probably doesn't update often enough to track lag move by move or to really be useful in determining if that's the cause anyway.

Blitz and bullet games really slow down on chess.com when one or both players is using premove. That's not lag.

I'm not referring to premove.

Hmmmm

Thank you MJ4Hbut isn't there some way to solve that ?

BTW, what's premove ? I've never even seen that as an option or term.

Ah premove, or as I like to call it, the queen-giver-away-tool.

I realize that. But more than lag is at work in the sometimes bizarre discrepencies between what chess.com's clocks show, and what happens in the game's conclusion. Both problems in implementation of lag, and problems implementing premove contribute. There may be other issues at work as well.

The primary problem is lag, and no there is nothing that can be done about it.

So what IS it ?

This will explain in detail what a premove is: http://support.chess.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/109/0/what-are-premoves-and-how-do-they-work but basically it's an option to make a move, even up to 8 moves before your opponent has made a move!. Once your opponent makes a move your premove will be immediately played as long as it's a legal move. But it's a double edge sword, I've premoved my queen right on a square that my opponent is about to attack on many occasions, thus giving it away. But premove does help you with speed. In fact it's almost essential with bullet games.

Today on fics, I had an opponent lag for three minutes in a five minute game. On icc, that never happens because that player is not allowed to play in the 5 0 pool.

THERE ARE THINGS a site can do about lag. 

This will explain in detail what a premove is: but basically it's an option to make a move, even up to 8 moves before your opponent has made a move!. Once your opponent makes a move your premove will be immediately played as long as it's a legal move. But it's a double edge sword, I've premoved my queen right on a square that my opponent is about to attack on many occasions, thus giving it away. But premove does help you with speed. In fact it's almost essential with bullet games.

Ah! I remember reading abt that but I've never used it.

Would the use of that by an opponent give them what seemed to be extra time (i.e., time not shown on counter or , as in the case I mentioned at first, time after their clock ran down ?

If so that would definitely be not just a flaw in software but one that should be remedied.

Personally I think such a "tool" , as has already been pointed out, would truly be a double edged sword.....& for me, be the antithesis of what chess's virtues are. Chess is maybe the only game/sport with NO dependence on luck & all abt cognizance.

I also have the view that it's best played when one looks at set-ups with a non-traditional, "new way" aproach. Stopping opponents w/ surprising moves is one of my fave tricks .

But back to the point...Ziryab wrote: more than lag is at work in the sometimes bizarre discrepencies between what chess.com's clocks show, and what happens in the game's conclusion.

I'd like to hear more abt what he or others have experienced in that regard.

I've lost on time when I had three seconds remaining and several premoves in the queue. The clocks stop entirely while the site processes the premoves--mine and those of my opponent. Suddenly, my three seconds are gone and the game is over.

Lag, however, explains watching my opponent's clock run from ten seconds to zero, and then suddenly, my three seconds are gone and my opponent has ten seconds remaining. My lag can cause this, but more often my opponent's lag creates the illusion that he ran out of time. 

"Lag, however, explains watching my opponent's clock run from ten seconds to zero, and then suddenly, my three seconds are gone and my opponent has ten seconds remaining. My lag can cause this, but more often my opponent's lag creates the illusion that he ran out of time. "

I don't get that at all !

I understand lag from my work as a musician dealing with MIDI, computers, etc., but the flipping around of times seems totally absurd---& more to the point, something that GIVES A MISLEADING REPRESENTATION OF THE SITUATION IN A GAME.

That's even worse than having no timer at all, I think.