Can you use a chess timer for any game where you need to keep a time limit on somebody's go?

Question

how much will a cheap one cost?

Answer 1

yea people use it in scrabble

Answer 2

hi.

Answer 3

They start around $40 and up.  A better and cheaper solution would be to buy a kitchen DIGITAL countdown timer.  They cost about $10 and work great.  Our family uses one for many games.  A chess clock wouldn't work right for your purposes because:

Two players determine a time limit for a game.  This means for instance that they will set both timers on the chess clock for 5 minutes for a ten minute game.  Player one hits the clock and player two's time starts counting down from 5 mins.  Player two makes his move, slaps the clock which stops his time from counting down and starts player one's time to count down as he makes his move.  They take turns doing this until someone's time runs out.

So a chess clock could only be used if only two people were playing a game. And it counts down the whole game, not each turn.  You're looking for a timer that would count down each turn and kitchen timers are perfect for this.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Sure you can.  They are always used in Scrabble tournaments.  But they measure the game as a whole, not in turn increments, and they are expensive.

The kitchen time works just as well and is easy to rest to whatever time you want.  And it Dings when the time is up!

(Chess clocks don't do that.)

Answer 5

about a tenner

Answer 6

I took a look at www.thechessstore.com and found a number of them for under forty bucks.  If you play chess its great to have one, and you can experiment with other games.  I'm sure you'd find a number of applications.

Answer 7

You can buy a simple hourglass at most game supply stores.  You can find them in one, two, three or four minute sizes.

However, a better idea would be to get a simple, inexpensive, spring loaded cooking timer.  The cost well under $10 and you can set them for any length of time up to an hour.  They are available most places that sell appliances and kithchen gadgets, including grocery stores.

Those chess timers have dual clocks and will cost a LOT of money.