TimerPlanOnline chess clock
Chess clock
Tap your own clock to end your move. The increment is added when you press, which is how Fischer timing works.
One thing a month worth timing
MonthlyOne thing a month worth measuring or capping with a clock — a payroll trap, a nap length, a meeting that never gets added up. Two sentences and the tool.
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How does increment work on a chess clock?
The TimerPlan chess clock adds the increment to your own clock the instant you press it, which is Fischer timing — the standard for online chess and most club play. A five-minute game with a three-second increment is written 5+3, and it means each side starts with five minutes and gains three seconds for every move completed.
The effect is that a fast move genuinely pays and a long think genuinely costs, and endgames stop being decided by who can move a mouse faster. Without increment, a won position can be lost to the flag alone.
Delay timing is the other family: the clock waits a few seconds before it starts counting, so time is not accumulated, only protected. American tournaments often use it. This page implements increment, because that is what almost everyone plays with.
Common time controls and what they are for:
| Control | Meaning | Usual setting |
|---|---|---|
| Bullet | 1+0 | One minute each, no increment |
| Blitz | 3+2 or 5+3 | The default for a casual game |
| Rapid | 10+5 or 15+10 | Club evenings, online rapid |
| Classical | 90+30 | Tournament play, with the increment from move one |
Set the base time and the increment below the clocks, then press either side to begin — the other side’s clock starts, because white has just moved.
Away from the board, the same shape of tool appears elsewhere: the stopwatch for timing single events with laps, the count-up timer for a whole session against a target, and the online timer when a game simply needs a fixed length with an alarm at the end.
Frequently asked questions
What time control should we use?
For a quick game between two people at a table, 5+3 is the friendliest — long enough to think, short enough to fit in a lunch break. Bullet at 1+0 is entertaining and mostly a test of hands; 10+5 is proper rapid where the moves matter; 15+10 is what many clubs use for graded games because it is long enough to be fair and short enough to finish in an evening.
Who presses first?
White moves first, so black’s clock is never the one that starts: the first press ends white’s move and starts black’s clock. This page follows that — pressing either side at the start begins the other side’s clock, so nobody has to remember which button starts a game.
What happens when someone runs out of time?
The clock stops and says who flagged. Whether that loses the game is a rules question rather than a clock question: under FIDE rules a player who flags loses, unless the opponent has no possible way to deliver checkmate, in which case it is a draw. The clock will not adjudicate that for you, and no clock should.
Can we use one phone for both players?
That is exactly what this page is for — put the phone flat between you, each side taps the half nearest them. Full screen removes the browser chrome so a stray tap does not open a menu, and the screen is held awake for as long as the game runs, which is the practical failure of using a plain clock app in a browser.
How this works
Sources:
Small rules that decide games
The increment lands on the presser. It is your reward for moving, not your opponent’s for waiting.
Move counts are shown. Useful for time controls that add time after a set number of moves, and for arguments afterwards.
Nothing to install. Two people, one screen, no account — the clock that is always to hand.