Five minutes, then thirty seconds a move.

Byoyomi

Byōyomi (秒読み) means “counting the seconds”. In a hall it is literally that: once your main time is used up, a timekeeper counts aloud, and you must move before the count reaches thirty. Every move restarts the count at thirty. You cannot save seconds up, and you cannot fall behind: as long as each move is made within the thirty seconds, the game goes on for as long as it takes.

That is the difference from a chess increment. An increment adds time to your bank each move, so a fast player builds up a reserve and a slow one runs out. Byoyomi is a floor: everyone gets the same thirty seconds a move forever, and the game cannot be lost on time by someone who keeps moving inside them. It rewards steady play and punishes a single long think.

The two speeds in the app

Speed	Main time	Then	Feels like
Blitz 速	3 minutes each	nothing: when it is gone, you lose	Quick games, sudden death. A typical game is under ten minutes.
Standard 静	5 minutes each	30 seconds a move	Time to think in the opening, and an endgame that is never lost on the clock if you keep moving.

Each speed has its own rating; they are different games. Friend rooms let you pick either and are not rated. Games against the bot have no clock at all.

What the clock does

• Your clock runs while it is your turn, from the moment the opponent's move lands until your own does.
• In Standard, when your main time reaches zero the display switches to the thirty-second count. It resets to thirty after each of your moves.
• If the count reaches zero, or in Blitz your three minutes run out, you have lost on time, jikan-gire (時間切れ). The other player is told the game ended on time, not by mate.
• If your connection drops, the clock keeps running; the app reconnects you to the same game as soon as it can.

How the professionals do it

Title matches give each player hours, sometimes across two days, and then one minute a move. Television games run on ten minutes and thirty seconds. Online, the most common controls in Japan are ten minutes sudden death, three minutes sudden death, and ten seconds a move with no main time at all. Our Blitz sits with the first group; Standard is the shape of a club game, shortened.

Playing with byoyomi

• Spend the main time early. The opening and the moment the fight starts are where a plan is worth minutes. The endgame will have thirty seconds a move regardless.
• Think on the opponent's time. Decide your reply to their most likely move while their clock runs, not yours.
• In the count, move at twenty. Leaving a few seconds means a slip of the finger does not lose the game.
• A won position is still a position. Byoyomi is where checkmates are missed. The daily tsume exists for this.