Time Control

Custom Time Controls

The presets cover the classics — but chess doesn't stop there. Set any base time up to three hours, add increment or delay, and play exactly the control your club, league or mood calls for.

▶ Set a custom control See popular examples

Why custom controls?

Standard presets — 5+0, 15+10, 90+30 — cover most games, but real chess life is full of controls that don't make the shortlists. Clubs invent house controls to fit an evening. Junior events run 20+10. Online leagues built a community around 45+45. USCF weekend tournaments run G/60 and G/120 with delay. A custom clock means you never have to bend your event to someone else's preset list.

How it works

Open the clock and pick the Custom card in the time-control grid. Choose your base minutes (1–180 per player) and seconds per move (0–60), then decide how those seconds apply: increment, added to your clock after each move, or delay, a pause before your clock starts counting. The clock labels your game automatically — a 7+2 shows as blitz, a 45+45 as classical — using the same tiers as the standard formats.

Popular custom controls

Six controls you won't find on most preset lists, each ready in one tap:

3+1
3 min, +1s/move — snappy blitz with a safety net
Set up →
7+2
7 min, +2s/move — the in-between blitz favourite
Set up →
20+10
20 min, +10s/move — a common junior & club rapid
Set up →
45+45
45 min, +45s/move — the online classical league standard
Set up →
60 d5
G/60 with 5s delay — a USCF weekend staple
Set up →
120 d5
G/120 with 5s delay — long USCF tournament play
Set up →

Something else in mind? Open the clock and build it in the Custom panel — or read the custom time controls guide for ideas and the thinking behind each one.

Link straight to any control

Every control has an address. Add ?tc= to the clock URL with minutes and increment (/clock?tc=7-2 for 7+2) or a delay (/clock?tc=45d10 for 45 minutes with a 10-second delay). Append &play=1 to start the game immediately — handy for a club WhatsApp group or a bookmarked house control.

▶ Start a custom game

Frequently asked

What custom time control should we use for club night?

For a relaxed evening of real games, 20+10 is hard to beat — enough time to think, increment to keep endgames fair, and games finish inside an hour. For more games per night, 7+2 keeps the blitz energy with fewer flag tragedies than 5+0.

Can I give each player a different amount of time?

Not yet — both players get the same base time and per-move seconds. Time-odds (handicap) games are on the roadmap.

What is the longest control the clock supports?

Up to 180 minutes (3 hours) of base time per player, with up to 60 seconds of increment or delay per move — enough for any single-phase control in common use.

Should I choose increment or delay?

Increment (Fischer) adds seconds to your clock after every move, so fast play banks time — the FIDE approach. Delay pauses the clock before it starts counting each move, so time never grows — the USCF standard. If your games end in flag scrambles, either fixes it; pick whichever your target events use.

Can I link straight to a custom control?

Yes. Add tc to the clock address: /clock?tc=7-2 opens the clock set to 7+2, and /clock?tc=45d10 sets 45 minutes with a 10-second delay per move. Add &play=1 to start the game immediately.

Keep reading

Custom time controls guide Increment vs delay Bullet Blitz Rapid Classical