Delay
A delay is a pause at the start of each turn before a clock begins counting down, so a player can use that short time without losing any from the main clock.
Also called: Bronstein delay
With a delay, a few seconds are held back at the start of every move before your main time begins to run. If you move within the delay, nothing is taken from your clock. If you take longer, only the time beyond the delay is used.
It sounds similar to an increment, but the effect differs. With an increment, unused seconds are added to your clock, so you can build up a time bank. With a delay, unused seconds are simply lost. This means you can never gain time with a delay, only avoid losing it. There is also a variation called a Bronstein delay, where the time you used on a move, up to the delay amount, is given back to you.
Delays are common on digital clocks used in over the board events, especially in the United States. Check which one is used in your tournament, because it changes how you manage the end of the game. In either case, practice playing quickly and safely when time is short.
It sits close to Time scramble. A time scramble is the stage of a game when one or both players are very short of time and must play many moves quickly, often leading to mistakes and sudden reversals.
Time controls change what a player should practice, and the improvement plans by rating band show how the habits behind "Delay" differ across rating ranges.
Related terms
An increment is a small amount of time added to a player clock after each move, so that thinking time never fully runs out as long as moves keep being made quickly.
A time control is the rule that sets how much thinking time each player gets in a game, and whether extra time is added per move, which decides what kind of chess is being played.
A time scramble is the stage of a game when one or both players are very short of time and must play many moves quickly, often leading to mistakes and sudden reversals.
Time management in chess is the skill of spending clock time where it matters most, thinking longer in critical positions and moving quickly in routine ones, so that you never face a decisive position with seconds left.
Classical chess is the slowest regular format, with long thinking time per player, usually more than an hour each, and it is the format used for most serious over the board events.
Flagging is winning, or claiming to win, on time because an opponent's clock has run out; the flag-fall loses the game unless the other side could never checkmate.
Guides that go further
See whether a base time and increment counts as bullet, blitz, rapid or classical.
Average chess rating and a good chess rating
What share of active Lichess players are rated above 800, 1200, 1500, 1800 or 2000, by time control.
What a rating measures, how FIDE, Lichess, US Chess and chess.com compute theirs, and why the numbers differ.
Want to spot this in your own games?
A first lesson starts with your games: George reviews them and builds a study plan around what he finds.