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BGonline.org Forums
Chronos Touch Clock
Posted By: MFIC In Response To: Chronos Touch Clock (Art Grater)
Date: Monday, 25 July 2011, at 6:05 a.m.
Hey Art, et al,
I just received an email from Chris Yep today with bearcoup info on the Chronos GX. I'll cut and past it here in case anyone wants to see it. Or anyone can email me at pgibsonmfic@gmail.com ___________patrick PATRICK____> I meant to send you some info on the Chronos GX after Michigan, but I've been very busy with work in the last few weeks.
Anyway, if you haven't already bought a Chronos GX, here are some suppliers. List price is around $99; some places will sell them for about $90 if you look around.
Chess USA: www.chessusa.com (go to Chess Tournament Supplies, then Chess Clocks; $88 - I bought my clock here) Wholesale Chess: www.wholesalechess.com ($98) Chesshouse: www.chesshouse.com ($100 for 1, discounts for larger quantities: $95 each for 2-3, $92 for 4-11, $89 for 12-23, $86 for 24+) USCF (U.S. Chess Federation): www.uschess.org ($100)
There are some other suppliers too, but the ones above are the ones that I remember when I was looking for the clock a year ago. I also bought the "long" Chronos clock (sometimes called the Chronos Digital Chess Clock II). I would be happy to answer any questions about either clock.
I like the Chronos clocks for their feel. Although they cost more than the Excalibur Game Time II clocks, the Chronos clocks feel sturdier and are quieter. I recommend the Chronos GX over the long Chronos clock. The Chronos GX is easier to program and is also more portable (smaller and easier to carry) than the long Chronos clock.
Some quick notes:
-The Chronos GX comes in two models - the standard button model and the touch sensor model. At Michigan Alan Grunwald and I had the standard button model. BG players probably like pressing buttons (for sensory feedback), though the touch sensor model is also supposed to be reliable (according to some of my chess friends).
-For the Chronos GX, I recommend using setting TN-1. This is a "tournament" mode with one time control (e.g. you set the time control to 22 minutes for an 11-point match). Note that all time settings are classified as either "blitz" or "tournament." Besides some minor difference in the display settings, the main difference is that if you pause a "tournament" mode (by pressing the red center button), it takes 4 more presses of the red center button to reset the clocks to their initial times. If you pause a "blitz" mode, it only takes one more press of the red center button to reset the clocks to their initial times. Since BG players pause the clock between games, if you use a tournament mode, this helps to avoid accidentally resetting the clocks. (Basically, the players will never accidentally reset the clocks if they're using mode TN-1.)
-The Chronos GX has settings for both a delay (Bronstein) and an increment (Fischer). (Someday, I may want to experiment with using both a delay and an increment in a casual game.) For ABT tournament purposes, set the delay to 12 seconds and the increment to 0 seconds. Set the "final delay" ("fd") to 0 seconds. (Final delay means the minimum amount of bank time per move; e.g. if you set = 10 seconds, then if a player makes his move before the clock runs out, the clock will reset to 10 seconds, giving him 10+12 = 22 seconds for his next move when using a 12-second delay. "Final delay" could be used in casual games, but for ABT purposes, fd = 0.)
-You can set different initial times, delays, and increments for each player if desired.
-I use beep = 0, led = 1, bp at end = 0 (no beep if one player runs out), ht at end = 0 (clock doesn't stop both players if one player runs out). You can customize this.
-I don't do this, but if desired, you can blank out leading zeros in the display (e.g. "7" instead of "00:07" for 7 seconds remaining). See the manual.
-For the long Chronos clock, use setting AN-1. This is an analogous setting to the Chronos GX TN-1 mode.
If you buy this clock (or the long Chronos clock) and have any questions, e-mail me and I'll be glad to help you out.
Chris
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