Chronos Chess Clocks are Back!!!

OK Here is the latest: WC just got resupplied. They have the Chronos II Push Button (Color and (quantity) on hand at time of post):  BLUE (6), BEIGE (5), and BLACK (4); They also have The Chronos II Touch Sensor in BEIGE (5),  and BLUE (10). 

So far no more signs of of the Chronos GX (unless they already ran out of them... possible), but I am sure they will be coming in again soon.

You basically just answer your own questions.  Sturdy and well made.  In addtion, they are made of metal instead of plastic.  Also, the Chronos is programmable.  You can configure the time for any game play.

Onto the popularity of Chronos.  Chronos are only popular in the United States.  Chronos are made is USA, and they are built for USA game plays.  Outside of the USA, the Chronos barely exist.  The most popular clocks outside of USA are DGT because of the rules.  In the USA there are USCF rules, and outside of USA there are FIDE rules.    

If you're still interested TCS now has 'em.

thechessstore.com

So I suppose HOS/USCF will probably have 'em soon too.

WC has 6 BLUE Push Button Chronos II and 3 BLUE Touch Sensor clocks still in stock.

CH Seedms not to have been re-supplied, as of yet.

ACE is an unknown, there site seems not to have been updated so there is no idea if they do or do not have any clocks for sale.

TCS (The Chess Store) Has (Chronos II)  4 WHITE Push Button, 3 BLACK Push Button, 1 WHITE Touch Sensor, and 7 BLACK Touch Sensor clocks.

USCF / HoS still reports NO clocks though I suspect they will be next to be re-supplied. 

While I suspect peak demand has passed, the fact that there is still a demand for them and while supply has been coming back on line, if you plan to buy a clock, now may be a good time to make that purchase, as it could be several weeks or more more a distributor gets in their next shipment. I have been looking at CH and the fact they have not been supplied could be a YELLOW flag, of a potential shortage in the near future. Also keep check WC as they are usually the first to be resupplied. 

Hope this helps.

UPDATE:

WC has 2 BLUE Push Button Chronos II left in stock; 0 Touch Sensors

CH has NO CLOCKS

ACE May or May NOT have some WHITE Touch Sensors: Quant. UNK

TCS has 3 BLUE Push Button, and 3 BLUE Touch Sensor; 7 WHITE Push Button, and 4 WHITE Touch Sensor; 0 BLACK Push Button, 3 BLACK Touch Sensor Chronos II.

No further shipments have so far come in. The last time CH was resupplied was 6 weeks ago, WC, 2 weeks ago, TCS 10 days ago. WC is most likely to be restocked soon -- maybe 1-2 weeks; CH is overdue for restocking. Keep an eye on both as they are leading indicators if if a shortage is coming. The good news is that between WC and TCS there are still 22 clocks available (12 Push Botton. 10 Touch Sensor).

azbobcat please disclose your affiliation with Chronos.  This is the second Chronos thread you've started, and you keep updating with amount in stock.

I figure he must work for the NSA and he's hacking into all of their computer inventory systems.

lol at this faux hype

None what so ever, but given that everyone and their brother seems to want one, and as I've said before it was a simple PSA. As to my "secret" for determining quantities this is NOT rocket science: Chronos clocks are sold in lots of 10. I check the major suppliers to see who has them and who does not. If supplier A has them in I simply type in I want to "Buy" 10 clocks, usually the reply comes back and tells me they only have say 8 clocks I then cancel the "Purchase". NSA not required. Do I *have* to do this? Absolutely not. Is there a demand for Chronos clocks? Yep!! "NubeDad" was desperate to find one, and the fact that when they do come in they sell out within days says they are still in demand. I have two clocks -- my everyday clock and a backup -- so truthfully I really could not care less if the "NubeDads" find a clock or not; that said, I do care enough to help those who *do* want to find one by directing them to the suppliers who do have them in, since I know from personal experience any supply will sell out fast, and so far I have been right on the money. I suspect the next "wave" of releases will be of the GX model to try and take back shares from the ZMF-II -- there was a brief release of the GX model and they were snapped up in hours.

Probably the thing that is killing DCI right now seems be the availability of the LCD displays -- cases etc, are probably in stock aplenty, it is the LCD displays that seems to control production. I would not be surprised to see DCI comes out with an LED display within the near future to compete with the ZMF-II, since it seems ZMF has no problem obtaining them. Again this is just a guess.   

Again I have no affiliation with Chronos, or any of the distributors, and really could not care less, I do this solely as a PSA for those who *are*  looking to find a Chronos and may not be aware that they are back in stock.  Hope this answers your question.

I guess you meant no-one and his brother ( except a bunch of fanatics) couldn't care less !!

Such an overpriced clock that breaks costantly and the support isn't even able to repair, its aimed just by a bunk of " chess clock fanatics". THoe people purchase one just for collection reasons, and are afraid to use them because it could break at the first usage.

I think its quite safe to say that 99.9% of people that looks for  a chess clock, DONT WANT a "sight wanking toy". They want something they could use.

just my 2 sents

PSA?  More like an unhealthy obsession.  The minute by minute updates a few weeks ago was very entertaining. I felt bad for him when he ran out of steam (or material to update.)  But it was all so emotionally hyperbolic I spent a lot of time laughing at his antics.  Especially the updates with color coded fonts giving the "in-stock" color availability, the special fonts to exclaim the virtues of the models and recommendations concerning push-button versus touch-button.   Hilarious.

By the By: ghillan, spot on and worth more than $0.02 as the the legion of dissatisfied Chronos owners is growing exponentially over the last year it seems.

Hey, according to azbobcat profile, he is a retired fellow probably with a lot of free time in his hands. Give the guy a break.

I agree, that's a tad harsh. Even though I have no intention of getting one of these clocks (they still seem ugly to me), I appreciate that someone would go to such effort for others. It's not something that most of us do.

azbobcat, thanks for your updates on the Chronos clocks. They were quite helpful. I have 3 of these clocks and have bought 4 used ones on ebay for others when they were not available. The oldest one I bought in 1998 and it still runs like new; it is the 2nd generation beige push-button model that followed the first generation with the on/off switch on the bottom. Compared to the later versions, it is sturdier and heavier with larger LED lights that are square and thick rubber grommets for feet that are screwed on instead of the cheap little bumpers on the current version that easily come off. I also have a black touch Chronos II that I use the most in tournaments and a black GX that I use for casual speed chess. The Chronos clocks are not as good as they used to be, but they are hands down the best chess clocks available because the competition is so bad. This is my opinion after 30+ years of owning and using chess clocks. I have quite a collection that includes the old Kaisha 1000 which was a great clock for its time.

The guy provided helpful advice.  You, on the other hand...

I'm no fan of Chronos but many are. Azbocat may have been obsessed with reporting these updates but so what? Many people wanted to know about the clocks availability and I'm sure he helped those folks find the purchase they wanted to make. So, what if he was zealous about it? He meant no ill intent and was working hard to be helpfull. Those of you who are poking fun at him about it do, however, mean ill intent. Your ridicule was just mean and filled with malice. Y'all should be ashamed of yourselves. GROW UP! This isn't high school.

Azbocat I give you sincere thanks sir, for your efforts.

Azbobcat you are the man!! You're updates were very helpfull in getting myself a new clock. Thank you very much! Don't listen to these fools.

Chess Clock Purchasing Decisions I am buying my first chess clock and have waded through a complex decision tree to pick the one I want. I was surprised at how confusing the process was so I thought I'd share what I found out to save others a little frustration. This thread was high on Google's list of links for keyword "Chronos Chess Clocks" so I decided to put the information here; I see that others have been asking the same questions I was asking, so I think I'm in the right church, but this is my first post so I hope I'm in the right pew. Analog or Digital? I flirted a while with the analog clocks because they have a certain simplicity and a look about them that I like, but opted fairly quickly for digital because of the precision and flexibility. Manufacturer. I initially decided upon Chronos because of the consensus that they are the best. They cost a lot but they apparently have the most features and they seem to be the top of the heap, although the DGT clocks were attractive and a couple of others as well. I found it confusing to identify which Chronos to buy as they have multiple models and I could never find a table or other description of the difference from one model to the next. Here is what I was able to piece together: Chronos comes with wide or narrow displays. The wider display accommodates more digits so you can display time and move counter, for example, or smaller increments of time. The narrower display is more compact but has to flash between displays in some modes to show all the info. Chief virtue of the narrow display is its compact size -- perhaps easier to carry. There are two wide Chronos clocks, the plain "Chronos" or "Chronos I," and the Chronos II. The Chronos I has push buttons while the Chronos II is the touch kind. If you want the short display, there are at least three variations and I do not have a clear idea of the differences. There is the FX, the GX, and the Blitz. The FX has a single LCD display panel with the two times on opposite ends. The GX has two separate displays. I don't have a clear idea about how they differ functionally or if they do, and I never did learn what distinguishes the Blitz clock -- all the clocks have timing functions that support blitz games but perhaps there are subtle differences in some of the more sophisticated timing functions. If so, I never did discover what they were. After considerable reflection, I decided to buy the DGT North American Chess Clock instead of the Chronos, for the following reasons: o I decided not to chase the elusive Chronos -- It is out of stock everywhere with a constrained pipeline. -- Prices at the few places with limited supply are exorbitant: $200-$300 in some places like Amazon for functionality you can buy from another manufacturer for a tenth of the price. For me, the quality differential simply isn't worth the cost differential plus purchase hassle. o The DGT 2010 is the official chess clock of the World Chess Federation (Federation Internationale des Echecs -- FIDE). It is the successor of the DGT 2000, which was the best selling digital chess clock ever with over 250,000 clocks sold world wide. However, DGT is built in the Netherlands and many of the DGT 2010 timing functions are for European tournament play. The DGT North American was therefore introduced to accommodate North American tournament play. So this seems to be literally "the best of both worlds" -- FIDE-recognized but with North American timing functions. o Cachet of Chronos. I must admit that part of the appeal of the Chronos is it's cachet; it is widely recognized as having superior construction and functionality and it's design is easily recognizable at tournaments. So it is tempting to be able to pull a Chronos out of my bag as a statement that I know what the best is. But I saw a couple of a YouTube videos of Gary Kasparov playing with a clock featuring the distinctive "see-saw" levers that distinguish DGT clocks, and I figured if DGT was good enough for Kasparov, it is good enough for me. o Price. I bought the DGT North American for $50 from Wholesale Chess. Chronos enthusiasts point to its near indestructibility, but when you can buy 4-6 DGT's for today's price of one Chronos, it doesn't look like much of a risk to take a chance that the DGT might have to be replaced sooner. o Ease of Use. Several reviewers cite the complexity of the Chronos and it's indecipherable owner's manual. The DGT has just the opposite reputation -- easy and intuitive to use, easy to correct time and move-count, etc. Also, the DGT has it's table of timing functions printed on the bottom of the clock, so no problem if the manual is misplaced. o Lighting. I do not know if the Chronos has this feature or not, but the DGT display can be adjusted to 16 contrast levels. This means it can be used in outdoor lighting in the park, as well as indoors. Other clocks such as the ZMF-II cost as or more than the DGT, and cannot be used in sunlight. If the supply of Chronos clocks ever catches up to the demand so it is less of a chess game just to locate one, and if the price stabilizes to something that more reasonably reflects its quality and functionality, I may pick one up and retain the DGT as a backup. In the meantime, I think the DGT will satisfy all my needs, and while I may not play like Gary Kasparov, it may make me look like him!

O_Ray_Moose, you should be able to find a Chronos clock now at the regular retail price.  The ridiculous prices on Amazon are sort of irrelevant.  You can find them at much lower prices outside of Amazon.

Also, Kasparov no longer plays serious competitive chess.  Perhaps he got tired of playing with cheap DGT clocks.  ;)

By the way the reason the DGT clocks are so popular is that they have a financial arrangement with FIDE, and because only certain DGT clocks can hook up with the electronic boards they use in major international events. Unfortunately, the DGT North American clock will not hook up to an e-board.  Only the unsightly DGT XL works with the e-boards.

With that said, the DGT North American is a fine clock.  I'd avoid the DGT Easy Plus however.  They break way too easily.

Another reasong to avoid the DGT Easy Plus is that it can only automatically handle games with one time control. If you want to use it in a game with two or more time controls (e.g., 40 moves in 90 minutes, then 60 minutes for the rest of the game), you would have to set it for the first time control, and then when time runs out stop the clock and manually add in the time for the second time control.

Avoid the DGT 960 for the same reason. Also avoid the DGT Easy, which in addition to having the single time control limit of the Easy Plus, also lacks support for increment or decrement.