Time sniping

Could someone offer a clarification of the timing system (over and above what's already in the FAQ)?

What happens if a player's 240 hours has run out, and he gets into byo-yomi, then keeps waiting until that time has almost runout before making a move (all the while his opponent responds promptly, and still has 240 minutes)? It seems to me such a game (especially in 19x19 Go) would take a couple of years to complete, as long as the low-time player keeps getting additional hours and moving just before it elapses.

Any ideas?

This is not a byo-yomi system. As soon as you make your move, you get your additional 36 hours. And as long as you're down to 204 (that's 240 - 36) hours or less when you make the move, it's a full 36 that you get added on.

But to your main point, yes, games can take a long time. Not years, generally, as a little more than a year wouldn't be difficult to arrange if both players are moving slowly and taking annual vacation time.

I know that games CAN take a long time. I've played here for a while now. It's just puzzling to me that someone can be down to less than 24 hours left, make a move, then be back to 60 hours left, go back down to less than 24 hours again, make a move, then have 100 hours left, all in the same game.

Well, since you get an additional 36 hours each time you make a move, that's not strange at all. I don't know what the maximum time for a GO game is, but for a HEX game, it's easy to calculate. Both players can use their 240 hours plus 20 vacation days. That's 60 days. In addition, they get 36 hours pr move (provided they make their moves slow enough). In HEX, the maximum theoretical number of moves is 169. So, you can have 168x36 hours in addition to the 60 days (the last move ends the game). That's a total of 312 days, which is nearly a year. Oh, and you get an additional 20 vacation days when you pass january 1st, so I guess the game could continue for a further 40 days - for a total game time of 352 days.

I don't think any game has been anywhere near this theoretical limit yet, though. But I guess in GO 19x19, it's not unusual to have 200+ moves, and so a game CAN take more than a year to complete.

Marius

240 hours plus 20 vacation days equals 30 days.

And if you multiply 30 days per player with 2 players, what do you get? :-)

Marius

And when will I learn to think before I post?

bump