From: Colin Paul Adams COLINA DEMON CO UK> Date: 12 jul 1997 Subject: Re: Byo Yomi >>>>> "Larry" == Larry Kaufman WIZARD NET> writes: Larry> Playing shogi without byo yomi does not work well because Larry> the endgame requires as much or more time as the early part of Larry> the game, and the game length is unpredictable. However, even Playing WITH byo yomi does not work well, because the endgame requires so much time. In shogi, in contrast to go, you need MORE time in the endgame. Larry> better than byo yomi is time delay, in which each player gets a Larry> certain amount of free time per move, plus a fixed total time Larry> for reflection beyond the free time. This is actually the way Larry> pro shogi has been played for ages, with one minute free time Larry> per move and 4-9 hours per side beyond that. Time delay is now Larry> the preferred time control for U.S. Chess Federation events, Larry> and in my opinion is even more suitable for shogi. We have had Larry> some rated games played with a time control of ten minutes per Larry> side, with 30 seconds free per move (such games take an hour or Larry> so). There are now several chess clocks on the market that Larry> support delay. However, if you want warning beeps when time + Larry> delay reaches a specified number, today's clocks don't do this, Larry> but the "Chronos" clock plans to add that feature in the near Larry> future. When playing with fixed time plus byo yomi, players Well, I have had a Chronos clock for about a year now. It DOES do warning beeps in the professional Shogi modes (according to the manual). Larry> have little incentive to avoid byo yomi unless the initial time Larry> is large relative to the byo yome, which results in the endgame Larry> being played out in pure byo yomi. With delay, there is Larry> incentive to retain some of your initial time for the endgame, Larry> which tends to result in higher quality play as the player may Larry> have some residual time to find or verify TSUME at the end. Agreed. -- Colin Paul Adams Preston, Lancashire, England colin colina demon co uk