An Alternative To Time Increment

Tse Pin brought up some pros and cons of time increment in chess tournaments. One of the cons that was brought up was this:

As for the Organiser, each round have to start late if experienced players go into Bishop opposite colour endgame where the game may exceed 120 or even 150 moves with no end in sight and refuse to draw. For your information, a typical chess schedule with increment time is built based on 60 moves per game. In this case, 70 minutes per round. A 120-move game in every round will set back the schedule by 20 minutes for every round. This will add another 2 hours to the schedule for a 6-round competition. As for Arbiter, he shouldered a huge responsibility to make sure the event is able to finish as per schedule, else the Organiser reputation is at stake. Do you still remember one event that was played from 9am until midnight several years ago?

Yes, the problem with time increment is that it doesn't set a maximum to the time that can be added on to both players. When I was in the US, I saw a very interesting time control which I have yet to see in this part of the world. They called it "Time Delay". Basically, time delay means that after your opponent presses the clock, there will be a delay, typically five seconds, before your time starts moving. This works like an increment except that the time does not get added on to your clock. This still has the benefit of avoiding the "draw claim" scenario because in an obviously drawn position, players should be able to make moves in under five seconds, which doesn't start their time and in such a case, the arbiter can easily declare a draw.

I think it is a great benchmark for a draw claim. If players want to claim a drawn game, they should be able to play a move in under five seconds to demonstrate a clear draw.

And how in the world do we set such a time control? I don't know about the clocks that are being used by the organizers here in Malaysia, but here is such a clock that allows you to set such a time control:

It is called the Excalibur II and it costs about USD40. I don't get any money from this. You can buy the clock and try it out for yourself. Personally, I bought one such clock and I really like it. It is easy to use, the numbers are big, which is great for the elderly. Of course, the delay does not have to be set at five seconds. You can even set it higher. Perhaps, this is the future of time control in chess?

Congratulations to Mok!

Amazing victory by Mok. Kept steady all the way to the very end. I would like to speculate that Mok got some extra motivation from all that FGM bashing that he has been given. He hasn't even said a word about this, and all this while, FGM is bashing him left, right and center about his abilities. Pretty good display to hopefully silence the Fool Gone Mad.

A Psychopath In Our Midst?

After reading this, this and this, I thought I was seriously going to puke blood. But then I was reminded of an article I read.

I was reading this article on psychopathy the other day, and all the symptoms just reminded me of someone. This was the definition given:

Psychopathy is a socially destructive personality disorder usually characterised by a combination of emotional, interpersonal and behavioural traits. The most common of these are egocentricity, extreme impulsivity coupled with irresponsible behaviour, pathological lying and a lack of guilt or remorse.

And here are some of the symptoms:

1. glibness (layman's meaning: able to talk/write fluently about bullshit like a politician)

2. grandiose sense of self-worth (i.e. egotistical maniac)

3. pathological lying

4. cunning/manipulative

5. lack of remorse/guilt (i.e. never says sorry)

6. emotionally shallow

7. callous or lack of empathy

8. failure to accept responsibility of own actions

Need I go on?

I have often tried to think that he is not insane and on tried not to make this personal. But going through this checklist, my un-expert opinion is that Voldemort seems very close to being or is a psychopath. I think it is probably closer to a narcissistic personality disorder, but again, I am no expert.

Oh, in case you think I made up the checklist, I got it from Dr. Robert D. Hare's psychopathy checklist. Dr. Hare is a world-renowned psychologist researching the field of criminal psychology.


This is by no means a criticism. Psychopathy is a very real condition and I am not in the habit of discriminating against people who are suffering from various disorders. This post is merely to illustrate and make an observation as well as to raise awareness for those who are unaware.

Dr. Hare describes people he calls psychopaths as "intraspecies predators who use charm, manipulation, intimidation, sex and violence to control others and to satisfy their own selfish needs. Lacking in conscience and empathy, they take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without guilt or remorse". "What is missing, in other words, are the very qualities that allow a human being to live in social harmony."

In other words, listen at your own peril.