Time control

However, most games tend to change the classification of tournaments according to the length of time given to the players.

Such methods exact a points penalty, or fine, on the player who breaches their time limit.

One example occurs in Go, where the Ing Rules enforce fines on breaches of main time and overtime periods.

[4] The rules may also provide for a sudden death time control in addition to the penalty.

In tournament Scrabble, the time control is standardized to 25 minutes per side with a 10-point penalty for each minute or part thereof that is used in excess,[5] so that overstepping the allotted time by 61 seconds carries a 20-point penalty; a player who oversteps by 10 minutes automatically loses; in this case, their opponent is given enough additional points to win by one point, if they were not already in the lead at that time.

The sum of both clocks always remains the same, and slow moves give extra time to the opponent.

The word is borrowed from Japanese; the term literally means "counting the seconds", or more generally, "countdown".

A typical time control is "60 minutes + 30 seconds byo-yomi", which means that each player may make as many or as few moves as they choose during their first 60 minutes of thinking time, but after the hour is exhausted, they must make each move in thirty seconds or less.

If a player oversteps one minute, they start the following move in the second rather than the first byo-yomi period.

)[6] Similarly, in the televised NHK Cup tournament, the player has 30 seconds per move plus 10 extra one-minute periods which may be used as needed.

The IGS Go server uses a similar system, but the byo-yomi time is variable and always covers 25 moves.

Canadian byo-yomi imposes a certain average speed of play, but allows the player to spend more time to ponder on difficult moves.

Unused time during one byo-yomi period does not carry forward to future moves.

This is in contrast to the Fischer clock often used in chess, with designations such as "5 minutes + 12 seconds per move".

In Go, players stop the clock, and the player in overtime counts out the required number of stones and sets the remaining stones out of reach so as not to become confused, whilst the opponent sets the clock to the overtime period.

This ensures that the main time left on the clock can never increase even if a player makes fast moves.

As with increment, under FIDE and US Chess rules, the delay time is applied to the first move.