Time Management at the Board: Stop Losing on the Clock
Clock mismanagement ends more games than blunders do at club level. Here's a practical system for allocating time correctly throughout a game.
Time trouble is an epidemic at club level. Players routinely spend forty minutes on the first twenty moves — the phase most prepared — and then face the rest of the game with minutes on the clock. This is backwards.
The Three Phases of Time Allocation
Opening (moves 1–15): spend minimally if you know your theory. If you're in known territory, don't agonise. Move confidently and save the time for what's ahead. Middlegame (moves 15–35): this is where most of the time should go. Complex positions with multiple candidate moves deserve careful thought. Reserve at least 10–15 minutes for key decisions. Endgame: you should have enough time to play accurately. If you're regularly getting to the endgame in time pressure, your opening is taking too long.
The "Two Minutes Per Move" Guideline
At classical time controls, aim for roughly two minutes per move averaged across the game. If you're spending eight minutes on an opening move you should know, you're borrowing time from a later critical decision.
When to Use Long Think
Reserve your longest thinks for: positions where your opponent has just made a surprising move, positions with multiple tactical complications, and irreversible decisions like pawn breaks or piece sacrifices. Routine moves rarely require more than two minutes.