Chess Clock: Board & Go Timer is a free offline game clock for iPhone, iPad and Android that runs chess, go, shogi and board-game time controls with no ads and no in-app purchases. It covers eight time-control families, including Japanese and Canadian byo-yomi, ships 25 presets, and seats 2 to 6 players at one screen. Version 2.0 arrived on 21 October 2026.
Disclosure: AppStoryo is operated by the studio that develops Chess Clock: Board & Go Timer. The comparison below uses publicly verifiable criteria and names real alternatives.
A game clock is judged on three things: whether it knows your time control, whether you can hit it without looking, and whether it reads from across the board. This review tests Chess Clock on all three, against the rules it implements and against three clocks you could install instead.
What is Chess Clock: Board & Go Timer, and what did version 2.0 change?
Chess Clock: Board & Go Timer is a dedicated clock app, not a chess engine and not a playing platform. It first reached the App Store on 20 July 2026 and moved to version 2.0 on 21 October 2026. The iOS download is 25,940,992 bytes, about 24.7 MB, needs iOS 15.0 or newer, lists 130 supported devices and carries a 4+ age rating. The App Store listing is translated into 44 languages. It is free, with no in-app purchase tier at all. Version 2.0 added four things: the clock now switches on finger-down rather than on release, simple delay shows a countdown badge and a shrinking bar, play can continue after a flag falls under US Chess practice, and a Sunlight theme prints black on white at full brightness. You can download it on the App Store or get it on Google Play.
Which time controls does Chess Clock actually support?
Eight families, which is the widest list in this comparison: Fischer increment, Bronstein delay, simple delay, Japanese byo-yomi, Canadian byo-yomi, hourglass, multi-stage controls and plain sudden death. The listing closes on a claim about connectivity that is worth holding the app to:
The only time it goes online is a quick check for a newer version at launch.
The three chess modes match the rules as written. The FIDE Laws of Chess define the time-delay mode as a main thinking time plus a fixed extra time each move, where the main time only starts counting down once that fixed extra time has run out — precisely what the new on-screen badge shows. Article 6.3.1 requires the increment to be specified in advance, and the 25 presets do that for you: bullet 1+0, blitz 3+2 and 5+3, rapid 10+5, classical 90+30, FIDE 40/90+30 and a US delay of 5 minutes plus 5 seconds. Those labels are not decoration. FIDE's thresholds are arithmetic: a game is blitz when the allotted time plus 60 times any increment is 10 minutes or less, and rapid above that but under 60.
What happens in Chess Clock when a flag falls?
This is the most interesting change in version 2.0, because the two rule sets genuinely disagree and the app now implements both. Under the FIDE Laws of Chess article 6.9, a player who does not complete the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time has lost the game — with one exception, that the game is drawn where the opponent cannot checkmate by any series of legal moves. US Chess practice differs: the opponent has to claim the win, and until somebody claims it the game continues. Chess Clock now offers that as an option rather than picking a side. If both flags fall it records a draw and notes which side fell first — the detail a tournament director actually needs, and one no other clock compared here advertises.
Can Chess Clock run a game for three to six players?
Yes, and this is the feature that takes it outside chess entirely. Chess Clock seats 2 to 6 players around one screen and passes the turn around the table. You can reverse direction mid-game, knock out a player whose time has gone and keep the rest playing, or hand everybody a fixed time per turn instead of a bank. Per-player handicap is separate and works in any mode: each seat can have its own control, so a coach can play three minutes against a student's forty. For a board-game night, a shogi club and a chess club, that is one app instead of three — get it on the App Store or install it from Google Play.
Can you read Chess Clock across a table, and does it work with VoiceOver?
Its answer to both is the whole-half tap target: your entire side of the screen is the button, which is far past the 24 by 24 CSS pixels that WCAG 2.2 sets as its Level AA minimum. The Sunlight and High Contrast themes exist for the 4.5:1 text contrast ratio the same standard asks for, and the 3:1 ratio for interface components that tells you whose move it is. Dynamic Type covers the 200 percent text resize criterion, and VoiceOver reads each clock aloud, with a double tap to pass the move.
Which game clock should you actually use?
Choose Chess Clock by Chess.com if you want a long track record
- It is the only clock here with real public reception: 341 App Store ratings averaging 4.6
- It adjusts either player's remaining time mid-game and auto-pauses when the app is interrupted — neither of which Chess Clock claims
- At 3.4 MB it is the smallest chess-only option, and it is free with no in-app purchases
Choose ChessClock+ if you play chess only and want the lightest app
- 1.3 MB, iOS 13.0 or newer — it runs on older hardware than anything else here
- The highest average rating in this comparison: 4.89 across 104 ratings
- Per-player clock orientation and colours, so each side reads their own clock upright
Choose Go Clock: Byoyomi Timer if you only play go, at a club
- It carries Ing, NHK and progressive overtime, three systems Chess Clock's eight families do not include
- The last ten seconds of every period are spoken aloud in one of five languages, chosen separately from the interface
- Two consecutive passes stop the clock, matching how a go game actually ends
Choose Chess Clock: Board & Go Timer if one app has to cover every board
- The only clock here that runs FIDE multi-stage chess controls and Japanese and Canadian byo-yomi
- 2 to 6 players, per-player handicap, six themes and think-time statistics for your last 50 games
- On both stores, translated into 44 App Store languages, and the newest build of the four
When is Chess Clock the wrong clock to install?
It is the wrong choice in three situations. If you need a clock with a proven public record, Chess Clock has no App Store ratings at all and version 2.0 is two days old. If you play go under Ing or NHK rules, those systems are absent and Go Clock has them. And if you want mid-game time correction after a director's ruling, the listing does not claim it while Chess.com's clock does.
Chess Clock: Board & Go Timer — frequently asked questions
Is Chess Clock: Board & Go Timer free?
Yes, and completely. The App Store lists it at no cost with no in-app purchase tier, and the listing states there are no ads and no account. None of the eight time-control families or 25 presets sits behind an upgrade.
Does Chess Clock work without an internet connection?
Yes. Every time control, preset and statistic runs on the device, so a hall with no signal changes nothing. By the listing's own account the only network call is a version check at launch, confirmable in airplane mode.
Does Chess Clock support Japanese byo-yomi properly?
Yes, with period counts, stone counts for the Canadian variant and an audible countdown over the final five seconds. Both byo-yomi systems are first-class modes rather than approximations built from a Fischer increment.
What is the difference between Fischer increment and simple delay here?
Fischer adds time to your clock after every move, so a bank can grow. Simple delay postpones the countdown: your main time only starts falling once the fixed delay expires, exactly as the FIDE Laws of Chess describe it.
Can two players use different time controls in the same game?
Yes. Per-player handicap gives every seat its own control, not just a different starting figure, so one side can play Japanese byo-yomi while the other plays a Fischer increment. It is built for coaching and uneven matchups.
Does Chess Clock run on Android as well as iPhone?
Yes, on both. The Android build is published on Google Play under the identical store title, and the iOS build needs iOS 15.0 or newer across 130 listed devices. Both builds carry the same eight families and 25 presets.
Does the clock keep running after a flag falls?
That is now your choice. Version 2.0 added a US Chess option where play continues until the opponent claims the win, against the FIDE rule that the game is lost. A double flag fall is a draw, noting which side fell first.
Does Chess Clock work with VoiceOver and larger text?
Yes. VoiceOver announces each player's time and state, and a double tap passes the move, matching the double-tap gesture Apple's iPhone guide teaches. Dynamic Type, Reduce Motion and two high-contrast themes are supported.
How many presets are included, and can you build your own?
25 ship ready to play, covering bullet, blitz, rapid, classical, the FIDE 40/90+30 control, a US delay, go, Canadian byo-yomi, shogi and hourglass. You can build and save your own, and the app keeps your last 50 games.
For one clock covering a chess club, a go club and a kitchen table, Chess Clock: Board & Go Timer is the broadest free option on either store — download it on the App Store or get it on Google Play.
Other formats: Markdown · Text · JSON · EPUB · JATS XML · BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON
License: CC BY 4.0