Rapid chess timer
Ten to thirty minutes a side — long enough to actually calculate, short enough to fit several games into an evening. The clock tells you the longest a game on your control can run, which is the number a club organiser needs.
Nothing leaves this tab. The clock is JavaScript running on your own device. No account, no upload, no ads, no time limit — and once the page has loaded it keeps working with the Wi-Fi off.
What this clock does
It does the round-planning arithmetic
The line under the clock shows the longest a game on this control can run, over 40 moves and over 60. Multiply by your number of rounds and you have an evening schedule.
15|10 is the FIDE rapid standard
Fifteen minutes plus ten seconds a move is the control used for FIDE-rated rapid events, and the one most improving players are told to play.
Moves are counted per side
Each half shows its own move count, which is what you need if you are keeping a scoresheet and want to check you have not lost a move.
What rapid means
Under FIDE's definition, a game is rapid when each player's total thinking time — base time plus sixty times the increment — comes to more than ten minutes and no more than sixty. That covers everything from 10|0 up to about 45|15.
The practical range at club level is narrower: 10|0, 10|5, 15|10, 20|0 and 30|0 account for almost every rapid game played on a weeknight.
Planning an evening around the control
The number an organiser actually needs is the worst case, not the average. Every game has a hard ceiling: base time plus increment per move, doubled for the two players.
| Control | Ceiling at 40 moves each | Sensible round slot |
|---|---|---|
| 10|0 | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| 10|5 | About 27 minutes | 35 minutes |
| 15|10 | About 43 minutes | 50 minutes |
| 20|0 | 40 minutes | 45 minutes |
| 30|0 | 60 minutes | 70 minutes |
Most games finish well short of the ceiling. But a Swiss cannot pair the next round until the last board finishes, so the ceiling is the number that decides whether you get home on time.
Why increment makes scheduling harder
A fixed control like 20|0 is completely predictable: no game can exceed forty minutes, ever. Add an increment and the ceiling depends on how long the game runs, which you cannot know in advance. A 15|10 game that reaches move eighty takes over an hour.
This is why arbiters running a tight schedule often prefer a fixed control or a small delay over a generous increment, and why 10|0 remains popular for club nights despite everything increment does for the endgame.
Read next
Guides that go with this clock
What does 15|10 mean?
FIDE's standard rapid control, what it costs an organiser in round length, and how it compares to 10+5.
Read it Choosing a controlBlitz vs rapid vs classical
Where the boundaries actually are, why FIDE measures total time rather than base time, and where bullet fits.
Read it Choosing a controlThe best control for beginners
A real recommendation rather than a shrug, with a progression from a first clock game to a club night.
Read itFAQ
Questions about this clock
What is the FIDE rapid time control?
Fifteen minutes per player plus a ten-second increment from move one. FIDE classifies an event as rapid when each player's base time plus sixty times the increment falls between ten and sixty minutes.
How long does a 15|10 game take?
At most about 43 minutes if both players use every second across forty moves each. Budget fifty minutes a round if you are running a Swiss, because the pairing for the next round waits on the slowest board.
Is 10 minutes rapid or blitz?
Ten minutes with no increment sits right on the boundary: FIDE counts blitz as ten minutes or less, so 10|0 is blitz by the letter of the definition and rapid in most people's usage. 10|5 is unambiguously rapid.
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