Maximum time for moving

[wellington]

Lately I can only play at work, so I dont have a great deal of time to play. I always seem to meet players who need at least 30 seconds for 1 move. Even when we just started. Then later on when the game is getting to its end, moves can take over 60 seconds.

Is it possible to make somekind of option we can use which says that a move may not last longer than lets say 10 seconds? If a player does not move within these 10 seconds the other player will have a second turn (so the other guy lossed 1 move).

I think they had this on Metaforge, but I aint sure. If this option was available I would have it on ALWAYS!

30 - 60 seconds to think about 1 move, this is insane!

w. (bit agitated lately

[spion]

Hi wellington!

What about the bronstein clock? it does allow players to take a few seconds more per move but it will limit the total time..

Perhaps thats usefull?

Best regards
spion

[Gluecksritter]

There is a problem with the current Bronstein mode:
It favours players who play to achieve a draw.
Imagine a player, "player W", who plays a stronger player, "player S", so that player W is happy with a draw.
So he takes no initiative and uses the full free time per move.
Whenever he can force his opponent to make some moves that don't advance the game, he does.
Currently there are two Bronstein options:
30 / 50 minutes total time
8 / 12 minutes personal time
4 / 6 seconds free time per move

Let's say they play the first mode (30-8-4).
When the total time is less than player W's personal time and it's his turn, he can force a draw by waiting until the total time runs out. So player S has left 22 minutes ( 30 - 8 ) to win.
Player W uses the full free 4 seconds for each move. This leaves player S at most 15 moves per minute, if he uses 0 seconds per move on average.
In 22 minutes he has then 330 moves to avoid a draw ( 22 min * 15 moves/min ).
If he is slightly slower, say he uses an average of 2 seconds per move, then he has 10 moves/min, which leaves him 220 moves to win.
With 2 seconds per move, player S has no time to use his personal time for real thinking, he just moves quite automatically.
With 220 moves to win, he still has a though challenge.

Below is a stem-and-leaf plot of the number of turns of Classic games on July 8.
The turn number is coded in three digits, from 000 to 400. The left column give the first two digits. On the right is the last digit of each game. (Unfortunately this font is not equidistant.)

flag captured|
or unable |
to move | forfeit

00 | 06
01 |
02 2 | 7847
03 | 72772
04 1 | 9918
05 | 723
06 | 972
07 41 | 04
08 | 7626680
09 54 | 2459

10 18 | 24032
11 38 | 119
12 313 | 14310
13 119 | 11
14 48720 | 6195012
15 27 | 4437
16 | 28966693
17 271 | 12803
18 29021 | 09000
19 8 | 58

20 448169 | 26
21 7270 | 82
22 2 | 48
23 71599 | 989
24 38 |
25 | 22
26 55 |
27 486 | 090
28 26 |
29 | 3

30 219 | 97
31 |
32 0 |
33 9 | 55
34 | 6
35 1 |
36 2 | 0
37 |
38 87 |
39 4 |

40 | 0

opponent missing: 331, 325, 123

player clock timed out: 44, 4

draws: tie agreed: 532, 434, 577, 277, 348, 217
game clock timed out: 270

The usual game (draws exluded) can take up to 400 turns.
Sometimes even more, but there was no such game yesterday.
If player W plays to achieve a draw, player S should be given at least 400 moves to avoid a draw.
These 400 moves should include 1 second for moving, clicking, moving, clicking the mouse.
Besides he should have his personal time for thinking.
3 seconds free time per move should be enough for making a move. If somebody wants to think, he can use his personal time.
So the total time should be the sum of
player W's personal time
+ player S's personal time
+ 400 * 3 seconds, that uses player W
+ 400 * 1 second, that uses player S.
The number 400 could even be replaced by a greater number, because it's possible that player W can make moves that force player S to answer for a couple of times.
For instance player W could chase with his major a captain that he cannot capture.

Bronstein modes that fulfil the conditions above are:
30-5-2, 50-10-3, 70-15-3
Read: minutes total time - minutes personal time - free seconds per move
30-5-2: 2 * 5 minutes + 400 * (2+1) seconds = 10 minutes + 20 minutes = 30 minutes
50-10-3: 2 * 10 min + 450 * (3+1) sec = 20 min + 30 min = 50 min
70-15-3: 2 * 15 min + 480 * (3+2) sec = 30 min + 40 min = 70 min (player S is here assumed to use 2 seconds per move for clicking)