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Chess variants and time controls

Chess can take three minutes or three days. The time control decides how the game feels, and a few variants change the rules themselves. Here is a map of both.

What a time control is

A chess clock gives each player a fixed amount of time for the whole game. If your time runs out you lose (unless your opponent could not checkmate you anyway, which is a draw). Time controls are written as minutes + seconds added per move. For example, 10+5 means ten minutes each, and five seconds are added to your clock after each of your moves. The added time is called an increment.

The four speeds

The FIDE Laws define rapid as more than 10 and less than 60 minutes for each player and blitz as 10 minutes or less, counting an increment as 60 moves' worth of its seconds. Bullet is an informal name for the very fastest end of blitz. Classical (also "standard") games are at least 60 minutes. A top-level game is often 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 more minutes, with 30 seconds added after every move.

Which speed should I choose?

• Beginners: rapid, or a game with no clock. You can look for threats before each move; see strategy and tips.
• Short on time: blitz with an increment, so a single mistake does not lose on the clock.
• Chatting while playing: untimed or a long rapid. A voice call and a three-minute clock do not go together.

Increment and delay

An increment adds time after every move, so you can always finish. A delay (Bronstein or simple delay) gives you a few seconds before your own clock starts running, and does not add to your total. Online sites mainly use increments.

Chess960

Chess960, also called Fischer random chess, was introduced by former world champion Bobby Fischer in 1996. The pieces on the back rank are shuffled before the game, with two rules: the bishops start on squares of opposite colours, and the king stands between the two rooks. This gives 960 possible starting positions, and the pawns remain in their usual places. Because you cannot memorise openings, you must think from move one. Castling still works: afterwards the king and rook end on the same squares as in normal chess (the king on g or c, the rook on f or d). The first official FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship was held in 2019 and won by Wesley So.

Other chess variants

• Crazyhouse: captured pieces change sides and can be dropped back onto the board.
• Bughouse: a team game on two boards where partners pass captured pieces to each other.
• Three-check: you win by giving check three times.
• King of the Hill: you win by walking your king to a central square.
• Antichess (losing chess): you must capture, and the first to lose all pieces wins.
• Atomic: captures explode every piece around them.

Whichever you choose, the pieces move the same way. If you are new, learn the standard rules before trying a variant.

Playing the clock well

• Spend your time on the moves that matter: in the opening, play quickly from knowledge; in the middlegame, think hard at the critical moment.
• With an increment, you never need to fall to zero. Aim to keep a reserve for the ending.
• Do not play a move just because the clock is low. A blunder costs more than a few seconds.
• Practice with a longer control and shorten it later. Your tactics will improve first at the slower speeds.

Time controls on ChessMingle

ChessMingle's standard game has no clock, so a game can last as long as the conversation. When you want a clock, rapid gives each player 10 minutes with 5 seconds back each move, blitz is 3 minutes with 2 seconds back, and bullet is 1 minute. Learn more in play chess online.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• FIDE Laws of Chess (2023), Appendices A and B
• Wikipedia: Fischer random chess

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