increment in chess

Since the origins of chess, many alterations have evolved to improve the way we play the game. Over the course of the past dozen or so centuries, chess has been extremely popular with different societies all over the globe. As such, it is probably the most consistently enjoyed game in history, but also has been the source of more versions than anything else either.

From its humble origins in games like Chaturanga, through its more modern digital iterations like Battle Chess and the most modern Takeover and Speed chess, history’s favorite pastime continues to evolve, especially in terms of tournament rules. Although chess already follows a specific set of strict rules, tournament chess narrows it down even further. Aside from the basic requirements of pieces and move sets, tournament chess uses a larger board and piece size for spectacle and to accommodate the slower pace of the game.

Tournament boards are typically composed of sixty-four 1.25” squares and a king that stands at 4.75” scale. The other pieces are determined based on the size of the king. Of course, travel sets and practice sets can change the size of the board and the pieces. Tournament rules are very particular. For instance, if you touch a piece, you have to move it. This seems obvious, but amateur players who aren’t sure of their move need to make sure not to touch a piece they are considering or they will be forced to move it.

One of the most significant aspects of tournament chess rules is regarding the time clock. You need to know how to effectively use a chess clock if you want to be a tournament level player. Bobby Fischer has positively contributed to something called increment in chess that has a lot to do with the lost time between players’ turns. Without getting too far into the confusing specifics of this rule, tournament chess can have very specific requirements like a specific number of moves or a total amount of time to play your pieces.

Bobby Fischer argued that every time a player starts his clock, he can lose small increments of time if he doesn’t use the entire clock to decide on his move. This new ruling allows players to add a set increment at the end of every turn because these lost increments add over the course of a match and make the game much harder in the final, most important moves of the match.