What are the best time controls?

This is the original poll that Yasser Seirawan sent out to the world's top players. At the bottom of the ballot form you will find instructions on how to send in your opinion.

Ballot Vote for Time Controls

Dear Chess Grandmasters,

In Moscow, June 1-3, 2002, a preliminary meeting of Grandmasters (the Committee) held discussions regarding the creation of the GMSC. On that occasion the issue of time controls was debated. The Committee decided that GMSC Voting Members, the world’s top 200 rated players, should properly decide and approve the time controls of Blitz Chess, Rapid Chess and Professional (seven-hour games). It was also agreed that these time controls should be approved for both mechanical and digital chess clocks.

Proposed time controls:

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The Committee agreed that for the Mechanical Clock the time control for Rapid Chess should be thirty minutes per player for the whole game (30/All). The Committee requests the top two hundred rated players to approve this decision by a majority vote.

For  ڤ                        Against  ڤ

The Committee agreed that the Digital Clock time control for Rapid Chess should be twenty-five minutes per player with a ten second bonus increment added to the player’s time for each move made (25+10/All). The Committee requests the top two hundred rated players to approve this decision by a majority vote.

For  ڤ                        Against  ڤ

The following time-controls for Digital Clocks for Professional seven-hour games were given the most consideration:

Choice A, (All/150+30) gives each player two and a half hours to begin the game, and players can use the allotted time however they wish.  The additional 30 seconds means that a player would have to make 120 moves before obtaining an additional one hour of thinking time, keeping the game well within the desired seven-hour period.

Choice B, (40/100+30 & 60 + 30/All) keeps a more constant rate of play.  Unlike the first time-control (All/150+30), it is unlikely that the two players will consume a great deal of time on a given move and on the reply to it.  Choice B is slightly slower than Choice A.

Choice C, (40/2, 20/1, 15+30/All) is the most conventional.  The first two time-controls of Choice C are exactly the same as those used for the Mechanical Clock. The third time-control of 15 minutes plus the 30-second bonus increment avoids the undesirable guillotine finish.  However, this time-control is the slowest.  It would mean that games that last beyond move 90 would probably go beyond the seven-hour playing session. 

The fourth suggested time control Choice D is the same for the Mechanical Clock.

These time controls were the ones most discussed.  The Committee welcomes suggestions for other Professional Chess time-controls for the Digital Clock. The Committee requests the top two hundred rated players to select the digital clock time control for Professional Chess by a majority vote.

Please check one of the following boxes.  Or leave the boxes blank if you’d like to propose a different time limit for Professional Chess.

If you would like to propose a different time control for Professional Chess, please write your preference below.  Any additional comments or proposed time controls would be appreciated.

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Print your name: __________________________________________

Signed by:___________________________________________________

How to vote

• Top players can send their replies directly to Yasser Seirawan.
• If you are not a top player you can send your opinion to us.

Replies received so far

The players in boldface have sent in their votes. Yasser Seirawan is not releasing any specifics on who has voted for what. "I don't want folks to vote to 'go with others' or someone in particular," he writes. "I want them to give their independent opinion!"