The Candidates’ Chess Tournament, which opens in Cyprus on Sunday, has made sure the men don’t lose in time. But only after the 41st move. Until then, they may have suffered because the legendary Bobby Fischer’s rule, which aims to create excitement from a time crunch, hasn’t been followed.Go beyond limits with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!In contrast, the female candidates, who will be played together in the same hall, will have 30 seconds added to the first move. But they get only 90 minutes for the first 40 moves while men get 120 minutes for the first 40 moves.GM Swapnal Dhupde, one of India’s leading chess trainers, said, “They want to create some excitement. Especially when the players are approaching move 40 and there is no increase in the clock. If a player is under time pressure, it is interesting to see if the player completes 40 moves in a few seconds, leaving some time to experiment with something open.” And more exciting!”There was also a difference in time control for men and women during the 2024 candidacy.Fisher invented his own version of the digital watch that provided the option to increase each movement. The idea was to ensure that the player with the better position on the board would only be penalized for damage if he continued to make downward moves.The “time wasted” principle assumes that a player in a better position will make favorable moves to his opponent’s and his own disadvantage. The rule does not apply if the opponent has no pawns or winning materials left on the board. In such a case, the clock turning to zero results in a draw.IM, writer and trainer V Saravanan said, “Different time control for different sections is really strange. FIDE must have done it after consultation with the participants. If not, it’s a strange setup.”Seven-time national champion Praveen Thapse termed the decision as ridiculous.When it was argued that in practice the men were getting 10 minutes more (120) than the women’s 110 (with extras) for the first 40 moves, Theapse disagreed. “Increment cannot be compared with time,” she said, acknowledging the time crunch for women as well.
