[feature request] Chess960 clock change

Hi there
Thanks so much for this amazing and innovative site that supports live Chess960! I have an urgent feature request regarding the Chess960 game clock.

Chess960 Feature:
The clock timer should start as soon as the game has loaded and white can see the position. To prevent confusion, a message box could open prior to game load that prepares white for the fact that their time will commence counting down immediately. At the moment the clock timer only starts once white has made his first move.....

Reasons for Chess960 feature:
White get's too much advantage! White is free to think for as long as they like while black cannot predict what white will play with any degree of confidence and thus cannot properly prepare a reply during the time the clock is still. Once white has moved, black's time is then the first to suffer! The situation is made worse because white automatically get's one free tempo simply because they are white. Statistically speaking, this tends to put black on the defensive from the game start. If white's time counts down immediately, this tends to balance out black's chances to attack and play aggressively because at least there is some compensation to black for being a tempo down.

Urgency of feature:
It is urgent to change this because it is turning people off Chess960 if white get's such an advantage! You will find that black has a fair chance of winning and it will make Chess960 much more exciting to play both as white and as the black player! It will transform Chess into a very exciting competition for either color and I predict that over time, live Chess960 will become the most exciting way to play chess.

Your site is one of the best live Chess960 sites in the world! I sincerely and passionately ask that you implement this feature so that Chess960 can be truly enjoyed for both the white and black players. You can show the world how live Chess960 should be played! At the moment I believe that the only other site that has implemented this feature is Playchess.com but I find your site has much more potential for live and exciting chess.

Thank you for listening.

Yours sincerely
Glider1001

but Glider,

don't you think that black can also analyze the position on white's first move?

Hi Kravtz
Thank you for your interest. The issue is that in Chess960 and Chess black is on the defensive by definition because white has the first move. The way that ChessCube have implemented the Chess960 clock, white's count down only begins at the third move! Therefore white get's free time at the start of the game and during black's first move.

In Chess960, white's first moves are often very numerous and critical! Amongst them are:
B4, C4, D4, E4, F4, G4, b3, g3, the knights and even castling. How is black supposed to devise a plan for all of them while white is thinking? Tell me? Black can't. Black can only hope for an error by white. They are down a whole move in tempo and time on the clock as it stands. White's clock only starts to count down by the third move! It is a ridiculous situation. Is it hard to understand?

Please ChessCube, continue on your innovation and leadership on the internet Chess960 internet scene! At the start of a Chess960 game, the game is actually already in a very high-level mid-game situation. It is white's turn and so their clock should be ticking.....

You do not have to implement this feature. But if you do not, you will not be doing any service to the future of Chess960. Chess960 is about exciting chess where black has a fair go to win! Other sites have implemented it so that white clock is ticking from move zero but the other sites are not as innovative as Chess-cube more generally. It is an opportunity that standard chess has never had! To make white have to think from move one at a time penalty!

Please feel free to visit my blog for more information and where I freely promote ChessCube as a great site!
http://chess960jungle.blogspot.com/

Cheers

I strongly agree with glider.

Good evening,

You might be right, that is one of the reasons I prefer playing 960 chess at the very few tournaments that are of this kind the one at 14:30 GMT at 10+1 timer and the 960 S&Gs at a 3 min timer. White starts losing time as soon as it is connected and the game starts.

In standar games I believe that black is in worse position at start since what glider has said.

Regards Xabier.