First, terminology: it's bonus time, in seconds, added to each player's clock after each move.
The choice to play games with bonus time is optional for players, of course - and many games do not employ bonus time.
However, it is very frequently used in OTB tournaments around the world, especially for sudden death time controls.
The idea is to slightly reduce the influence of the clock, especially when a player has a technically won game and only needs time to move the pieces to impose his/her will and claim the win.
Some players here refuse to play with bonus time, swearing that "blitz is blitz and there should be no extra time." I personally refuse to play without bonus time for the reason previously stated, but also because server lag compensation algorithms have not convinced me that I will have sufficient time to respond to my opponent's moves.
Use it if you like; avoid it if you don't. There's no morality attached to it. There is no right or wrong position to take, only your own position.
Cheers.
)
I've always played 10| 0 games in Live Chess - mainly because I don't understand the deal with bonus points. I read the help entry and I get the mechanism of it but don't understand the benefits. I did a search of the forums and found only this thread:
http://www.chess.com/forum/view/livechess/as-crazy-as-larry
Is the purpose of bonus points to reduce the importance of the clock as an absolute in LC? (i.e. if the game is progressing then raw time management is less of a strategy).
tx