See your time per move in chess, move by move

Why look at time per move?

Most lost games on the clock are not lost in the last minute. They are lost on move 15, when one long think ate a third of your time. Seeing where the minutes went shows you the habit to fix.

How games get into History

• A game that ends on time is saved automatically, and the screen says Saved to History.
• When you leave with the X after at least one move, End Game? asks for the result. Pick a winner or Draw to save it.
• Discard Game, Reset, and games with no completed move are not saved.

The result cannot be edited after saving, so pick it carefully.

How to see time per move in the app

1. On the home list, tap the clock-with-arrow icon in the toolbar to open History. The newest game is at the top.
2. Tap a game. The Game section shows the Time Control, the Duration and the number of Moves.
3. For each player, read Time Used, Average and Longest, which also shows the move number.
4. Under Move Times, tap Show Move Times to see every move: its number, the player, the seconds spent and the clock reading after it.

Worked example: average and longest move

A long think can feel much shorter than it actually was; the log shows the real number regardless. Say White's first three moves took 4.2, 12.8 and 30.0 seconds.

Moves are numbered per side, like a scoresheet, so #3 is White's third move. Times under a minute show one decimal; longer ones show minutes and seconds, such as 1m 20s.

Duration is the real length of the game from start to end, including pauses, so it is usually longer than both players' time used added together.

Add notes, a place and photos

• Notes: write how the game went. The field prompts you with How did the game go?
• Location: tap Add Location to note where you played. Location permission is asked only at this point.
• Photos: tap Add Photos to attach up to 6 pictures at a time, such as the final position or your scoresheet.

Things to know

• The app records time, not moves: there is no notation, analysis or PGN, and no export.
• An undone tap is removed from the log too, so the log matches the moves that stood.
• If the app was fully closed mid-game and you resumed it, only the moves after resuming are in the log.
• Delete one game with Delete Game or a swipe, or everything with the trash icon. Deleting also removes its notes and photos.

Questions and answers

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