I don't see the DGT 2500 becoming the new standard. It's a nice clock though. I think DGT felt the need for bigger and clearer numbers because everyone else is moving in that direction. (For an example, look at the photo of the less than $30 Leap clock I took a screenshot of). However, the real reason DGT will keep the other clocks available is not only because some of the pricing is better, but because the DGT 3000 is the only clock that can work directly with the DGT board. For GM games, this is a game changer.
DGT 2500: the new official FIDE chess clock
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I don’t say they would discontinue the 3000. Only the 2010 and NA. As for pricing this clock will probably drop in price. It is $70 now. With the 20% off code was only fifty-six bucks. Since I didn’t order over a hundred bucks worth of merchandise from HOS it still cost me seventy to get it to my house as shipping was fifteen bucks. basically the 20% off covered shipping cost.
If you buy a DGT NA from HOS it’s fifty bucks, plus about fifteen to ship, so that’s $65.00. This 2500 therefore was only six dollars more out of pocket expense.
If you buy a DGT NA from HOS it’s fifty bucks, plus about fifteen to ship, so that’s $65.00. This 2500 therefore was only six dollars more out of pocket expense.
Yeah, the price on the 2500 will drop as we early adopters all have ours. Perhaps at that point they'll release the 3500, which will be the replacement for the 3000 featuring all the goodies from the 2500.
FWIW, I'm no clock expert by any means, and I still haven't had a chance to use the ZMF Pro, but the 2500 is the best I've ever used. I really like the chunky button feel of my old Saitek Competition Pro but otherwise the 2500 is just SO good. Great lever, big display, very readable with really nice dark numbers, nice weight, easy to program, lots of useful default modes, byoyomi support, and - feel free to ridicule - I like the color. Honestly, the only thing I'd really add to the clock (beyond more byoyomi/shogi options like voiced countdown) would be a volume changer since the default is a bit too loud.
If anyone's in the bay area and wants to buy a very lightly used 3000 please let me know. 
Apr 8, 2023
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#66
I don´t know why some here compare Dgt 2500 and Dgt 3000, maybe just shows ignorance? Or isn´t Dgt 2500 the followup to Dgt 2010?
Yes it’s supposed to be the updated 2010 and North American. The 2010 was introduced in 2008, so it’s been fifteen years.
Well, I think it's very good
I like it, it seems that it is a good option
Again, DGT 2500 is here to replace DGT 2010. It can not replace 3000 due to the fact that it can not record the time with electronic boards. The successor of DGT 3000 is yet to be revealed.
<<<deleted by mod>>> Has nothing to do with the topic of this thread and it is spamming your youtube video.
Okay, I’ve had this great new chess clock a week now. I’ve had the chance to play around with it and familiarize my self with its features. I’ve used it at my weekly chess club on last Thursday evening, at the coffee shop with a friend last Saturday morning, and many games at home with my teenage son.
I’ve found one thing that I do not like.
In certain modes especially US Delay and Fischer Bonus, the freeze feature is the default. After resetting the clock for the next game you have to turn freeze off again. This doesn’t seem to be the case in the TIME mode (no delay or bonus increment) or the Bronstein delay mode. Freeze seems to be the standard in Europe and Asia but not here in the USA where it is up to the players to notice the time has expired for their opponent. Therefore it makes sense for the bonus mode which is more popular internationally. It doesn’t make sense at all for it to be the default for US delay. When using this mode setting 24 or 25 you have to turn freeze off each time you reset the clock. You don’t in Bronstein style delay though. It’s legal in US tournaments but not at all popular.
It seems if freeze was not going to be default in Bronstein it certainly wouldn’t have been in US delay. Yet it is just the opposite.
This is a minor problem with an otherwise great clock. Yet, I thought it was worth mentioning for those that are interested in purchasing it.
I’ve found one thing that I do not like.
In certain modes especially US Delay and Fischer Bonus, the freeze feature is the default. After resetting the clock for the next game you have to turn freeze off again. This doesn’t seem to be the case in the TIME mode (no delay or bonus increment) or the Bronstein delay mode. Freeze seems to be the standard in Europe and Asia but not here in the USA where it is up to the players to notice the time has expired for their opponent. Therefore it makes sense for the bonus mode which is more popular internationally. It doesn’t make sense at all for it to be the default for US delay. When using this mode setting 24 or 25 you have to turn freeze off each time you reset the clock. You don’t in Bronstein style delay though. It’s legal in US tournaments but not at all popular.
It seems if freeze was not going to be default in Bronstein it certainly wouldn’t have been in US delay. Yet it is just the opposite.
This is a minor problem with an otherwise great clock. Yet, I thought it was worth mentioning for those that are interested in purchasing it.
Big!ew, I agree with you that the freeze should be defaulted off in US delay, or at least the freeze should “remember” where you last had it set when resetting the clock.
Here is something that might help. Each mode has a “manual” (customizable) setting.
- for “Timer” the manual option is 8
- for “Fischer Bonus” the manual option is 21
- for “Bronstein Delay” the manual option is 23
- for “US Delay” the manual option is 25
I played around with it and tested, and the MANUAL options DO remember whether the freeze is on or off.
So if you’re wanting to play a full evening of game 10 with 5 second delay, with freeze off, just go to manual setting 25, set your minutes, delay time, etc. Then before game turn freeze off.
In that mode, when you reset clock, the clock will start back up for new game with freeze still off.
Hope this helps
Here is something that might help. Each mode has a “manual” (customizable) setting.
- for “Timer” the manual option is 8
- for “Fischer Bonus” the manual option is 21
- for “Bronstein Delay” the manual option is 23
- for “US Delay” the manual option is 25
I played around with it and tested, and the MANUAL options DO remember whether the freeze is on or off.
So if you’re wanting to play a full evening of game 10 with 5 second delay, with freeze off, just go to manual setting 25, set your minutes, delay time, etc. Then before game turn freeze off.
In that mode, when you reset clock, the clock will start back up for new game with freeze still off.
Hope this helps
Thank you Skeeterbreath.
So far I am really liking this clock. There is, however, one feature it lacks which I wish that it had.
I like to play longer, classical style games with longer time controls. I prefer to have the time periods broken down into 15 move or 20 move sections.
For example, if I want to play an “open ended” game with an “average” of 2 minutes per move, I would like the clock to operate like this: set the option for 30 minutes for 15 moves, and have that period automatically “repeat”
So, in this example, each player starts with 30 minutes to make 15 moves, an average of 2 minutes per move. Once a player makes their 15th move, 30 minutes is added to their clock, then likewise on their 30th move, 45th move, 60th move, 75th move, etc, ad infinitum.
The DGT 2500 has no way to do this. Now, I have an old, beloved Excalibur GameTime which DOES have this capability.
On the GameTime, you merely go to one of the user customizable modes, and set first period time to 30 minutes, moves to 15, and make sure the 2nd, 3rd and 4th periods are 0 time, 0 moves. When doing so, the GameTime is smart enough to “realize”:
“Hey, this player just made his 15th move, and there are no other specifications in the following time periods, so I’ll just add another 30 minutes and wait for him to make his 30th move” etc.
The DGT 2500 does not behave this way. If you set the first time period to 30 minutes 15 moves, and the remaining time periods set “blank”, when the player makes their 15th move the DGT does not add in the time again, and merely keeps counting down the remaining time as if it is in “game in 30” mode.
This is a shame, because the 2500 already has a way to set “game in x”: on any game period, by simply setting the desired time but leaving moves at 0, the 2500 knows that this means “game in x”
So this forces me to do the following:
- period 1 = time 30 minutes moves 15
- period 2 = time 30 minutes moves 15
- period 3 = time 30 minutes moves 15
- period 4 = time 30 minutes
As you can see, that makes the last time period effectively “game in remaining accumulated time”, and dies not provide the capability of ad infinitum
So far that’s my only real complaint
I like to play longer, classical style games with longer time controls. I prefer to have the time periods broken down into 15 move or 20 move sections.
For example, if I want to play an “open ended” game with an “average” of 2 minutes per move, I would like the clock to operate like this: set the option for 30 minutes for 15 moves, and have that period automatically “repeat”
So, in this example, each player starts with 30 minutes to make 15 moves, an average of 2 minutes per move. Once a player makes their 15th move, 30 minutes is added to their clock, then likewise on their 30th move, 45th move, 60th move, 75th move, etc, ad infinitum.
The DGT 2500 has no way to do this. Now, I have an old, beloved Excalibur GameTime which DOES have this capability.
On the GameTime, you merely go to one of the user customizable modes, and set first period time to 30 minutes, moves to 15, and make sure the 2nd, 3rd and 4th periods are 0 time, 0 moves. When doing so, the GameTime is smart enough to “realize”:
“Hey, this player just made his 15th move, and there are no other specifications in the following time periods, so I’ll just add another 30 minutes and wait for him to make his 30th move” etc.
The DGT 2500 does not behave this way. If you set the first time period to 30 minutes 15 moves, and the remaining time periods set “blank”, when the player makes their 15th move the DGT does not add in the time again, and merely keeps counting down the remaining time as if it is in “game in 30” mode.
This is a shame, because the 2500 already has a way to set “game in x”: on any game period, by simply setting the desired time but leaving moves at 0, the 2500 knows that this means “game in x”
So this forces me to do the following:
- period 1 = time 30 minutes moves 15
- period 2 = time 30 minutes moves 15
- period 3 = time 30 minutes moves 15
- period 4 = time 30 minutes
As you can see, that makes the last time period effectively “game in remaining accumulated time”, and dies not provide the capability of ad infinitum
So far that’s my only real complaint
Hmm, curious that I went to the trouble to separate my above post into easily readable “sections” separated by blank lines, but it was posted as one big continuous sentence
Check it on a browser computer screen. My posts have been doing that too.
As for the clock using setting 8 or 21 you can only do four periods. No repeating periods.
For those interested, I made a YouTube video review and comparison of this great new chess clock the DGT 2500. I posted the video on my auxiliary youtube channel, because my main one is a cooking channel. For those that take time to watch, I thank you.
BigLew, nice video! Looks like you put some good thoughtful effort into it.
I noticed you mentioned Baton Rouge a few times, and one time you mentioned it in context of 30+ years ago. I’m Baton Rouge based myself, and 30+ years ago I was fairly active in OTB chess back then. It’s very possible that you and I have actually crossed paths back then, playing in the clubs with others like Robert Bistany, etc. I know at one time we had about 30 something members regularly meeting out at Catfish Town.
I noticed you mentioned Baton Rouge a few times, and one time you mentioned it in context of 30+ years ago. I’m Baton Rouge based myself, and 30+ years ago I was fairly active in OTB chess back then. It’s very possible that you and I have actually crossed paths back then, playing in the clubs with others like Robert Bistany, etc. I know at one time we had about 30 something members regularly meeting out at Catfish Town.
I think I said, or should have said twenty years ago. I’m 52 years old, I was born in Baton Rouge, though I grew up in a small town in east Louisiana. All four of my grand parents lived there and are now buried just outside of Broadmoor, in a Florida Blvd, cemetery. However I lived in the BR area between 1998 and 2005. I played with the Baton Rouge club as much as I could in those days. They played at the Baton Rouge Bridge Center off of College and Perkins in those days. I think I remember Robert, but I’m not 100% sure maybe about 75%-80% or so. My family moved to west Louisiana 3 weeks before Hurricane Katrina.
Geaux Tigers!
Geaux Tigers!
I played a high school student this afternoon in 3/2 blitz for about five or six games.
Took it to the chess club tonight! It was 9LX (Fischer Random) night. Folks seemed to like the clock. Our time control was 10/d5 (US Delay). I must have played seven or eight games of 960 with it. And two or three others with a ZMF II.
I tell you I really like the delay count down in the center of the screen. Much better and easier to see than the tiny flashing “DELAY” word on the screen of the DGT NA. My old Excalibur does this but most of the stuff on that screen is too hard for my old eyes to read anymore.
I can set everything on this clock with out using reading glasses. This is great clock for those of us in our fifties or older that have to use a pair of cheaters to read stuff.
I can see the ZMF clocks well but the delay flashes back and forth on those. I really like this clock.
One more thing, when starting a game with the clock on the table, you can press the play pause button with only one finger, without feeling like you are going to push the clock around the table. On the DGT NA, 2010 and 3000, I feel like I have to hold the clock and mash the button with my thumb to prevent the clock from sliding backwards.
I really like this DGT 2500.
If any of you want a 2010 or North American you should buy them soon. I don’t know why DGT would keep producing them with this 2500 one on the market. I reckon DGT will discontinue the others soon.