♔♚ Chess Clock
Ten keyboard shortcuts per side once the clock starts \u2014 or just tap your half of the screen.
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Full Screen Chess Clock
This full screen chess clock is built for one thing: a clean, distraction-free clock you can pull up on a phone or tablet and expand to fill the entire screen, ready for an over-the-board game in seconds. Pick a standard time control preset or set a custom one, tap your own side after each move, and the clock handles the rest.
How to use this full screen chess clock
- Choose a time control preset: Bullet 1, Blitz 3|2, Blitz 5, Rapid 10, Rapid 15|10, or Custom.
- If using Custom, set your own Base Minutes and Increment (seconds).
- Optionally enter names for Player 1 and Player 2.
- Start the clock, then tap your own side’s panel immediately after making your move, this stops your clock and starts your opponent’s.
- Use the Full Screen button to expand the clock to fill your entire browser window or device screen.
- Use Pause to stop both clocks temporarily, and resume when ready.
What this full screen chess clock does
This clock runs a standard Sudden Death or Fischer Increment time control, each player gets a fixed base time, and if an increment is set, that amount is added back to a player’s clock immediately after they make their move. Tapping your own panel after a move is the standard chess clock interaction: it stops your own countdown and starts your opponent’s, exactly like pressing your own side of a physical chess clock.
The preset time controls
| Preset | Base time | Increment | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet 1 | 1 minute | None | Extremely fast games, seconds matter more than deep calculation |
| Blitz 3|2 | 3 minutes | 2 seconds per move | Fast games with a small increment cushion against flagging on a single slow move |
| Blitz 5 | 5 minutes | None | The classic quick-game time control |
| Rapid 10 | 10 minutes | None | A slower, more considered pace than blitz |
| Rapid 15|10 | 15 minutes | 10 seconds per move | A common online rapid format with a meaningful increment |
| Custom | Your choice | Your choice | Any base time and increment combination not covered by the presets above |
Understanding Fischer Increment
After each move, that player’s remaining time += Increment seconds
Fischer Increment adds a fixed number of seconds back to a player’s clock immediately after they complete their move, rather than only at set intervals. This means a player who plays quickly can actually gain time over the course of a game, and it reduces the chance of a strong position being lost purely to running out of clock time on a single complicated move, since some time is always replenished after every move played.
Going full screen
The Full Screen button uses your browser’s native fullscreen capability to expand the clock to fill the entire screen, removing browser chrome, address bars, and other distractions, which matters when the clock is being used for an actual over-the-board game where both players need to glance at large, clearly visible numbers rather than a small embedded widget. Exiting full screen works the same way, toggling the button (or your device/browser’s standard fullscreen-exit gesture) returns the clock to its normal embedded size.
Pausing the game
The Pause control stops both players’ clocks simultaneously without ending the game, useful for a bathroom break, a dispute that needs to be resolved, or any other interruption where neither player should lose time. Resuming continues exactly where both clocks left off.
A note on scope
This clock is built around Sudden Death and Fischer Increment time controls specifically, with a focus on a clean, large, full-screen-ready display for casual and online-style games. For tournament-format time controls like Bronstein/US delay, byo-yomi, or a two-stage “40 moves then extra time” format, the standard Chess Clock on this site supports those additional formats directly.
Frequently asked questions
What does tapping my panel actually do?
Tapping your own side’s panel after making your move stops your clock and starts your opponent’s, the same interaction as pressing your own side of a physical chess clock. This is how the clock knows whose turn, and whose time, is currently running.
What’s the difference between the Blitz 3|2 and Blitz 5 presets?
Blitz 3|2 gives each player 3 minutes plus a 2-second increment added back after every move, while Blitz 5 gives a flat 5 minutes with no increment at all. The increment in Blitz 3|2 means a player who moves quickly can accumulate meaningful extra time over a long game, which a flat time control like Blitz 5 doesn’t offer.
Does this clock support delay or byo-yomi time controls?
No, this full screen clock supports Sudden Death and Fischer Increment only. For Bronstein/US delay, byo-yomi, or two-stage tournament time controls, use the standard Chess Clock on this site, which supports those additional formats.
Can I use this on a phone during an actual over-the-board game?
Yes, that’s the primary use case. The Full Screen button expands the clock to fill your device’s entire display, removing distractions and making the time readable at a glance for both players seated across from each other.