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20s-first-move rule in CHESS 960

In CHESS 960 more time is sometimes needed for consideration the very first move possibilities. You should have some option to think longer than standard 20s.

One possible solution is to start your clock after let's say 10 sec and not to lose your whole game after 20 sec of thinking. Another option could be to implement some special button by which you can confirm that you are not AFK, but just thinking of your 1st move (the clock should start after some time).
or you can play a longer game than jsut the usual 5 min, where you actually spent your time for the first moves you are thinking about, like it would be over the board
-as for me, I play 3+0 usually, but 10 sek for the first move are enough for me. Admitedly, I have a greater basis of experience in chess at whole, which doesn't mean you should do it aswell. So I think 8 min instead of the usual 5 should be fine, and the aditional 3 min are exactly for the very first moves, and it's fine your clock runs immediatly, since it shouldn't be your oponents disadvantage if he thinks less than you
#2 I think you completely misunderstood the OP. I think he's referring to the tournaments where you have only 20 seconds to make your first move or you lose the match.
Bullet tournament first move timer -> 20
Blitz tournament first move timer -> 25
Classical timer (any time longer than blitz) -> 30
Right Uni, but the point the OP is making is that the randomized startup for 960 chess requires far more than 20-30 seconds to make a solid first move. You actually have to analyze the starting position unlike all the other variants. The timer should arguably be longer for 960 variant tournaments, I fully agree with the OP.
______I am with the OP. 99% of my 450 games of 960 are correspondence for just the reason cited!

___ I am only now gaining *some hesitant* confidence/ feeling for how to go about assesing the initial position & opening. I STILL am frequently buried by the 7th-9th move because my opponent (of all 'levels'!) has a better understanding
I don't disagree that it takes careful study to find the best move when the position is dynamic, but it's not that bad to find a move that works in under ten seconds. Most of my 960 games played ends up being by transposition; you an delay piece development for a bit and it's not like your opponent can prevent you from playing the good moves too soon when both sides has pawns in the way. For me this is the order of figuring out how to get a 960 game on the road when there isn't much time:

* If you're playing black, identify if white's first move exposes a weakness.
* If you're playing white, play a move that leaves your many options on the table.
* Prepare to identify whether castling is credible, and decide on which square the King should end up after development, if your opponent takes a lot of time to think (which usually happens)
That's why I stopped playing chess960.

I'm very sure that there is a need of more time for the first move.
Thinking about all this - I should restart playing chess960 but only make requests to be the black player.. this should give me an advantage :-)

In general I like the idea of "not AFK button"!
For example in a normal game:

Starts - 20 seconds over - no move/no "notAFK-button" pressed... lost by time

Starts - "notAFK-button" pressed...
your clock is ticking
It's funny, basically Unihedron it sounds like you are arguing that "well, it's 960 so the first move is less important, so just find a move that works and then start playing the game with all the remaining time you have." I suppose it's a fair assessment, but I don't understand why it's a necessary compromise when the variant could just as easily be granted double time for first move to be made in tournaments to reflect the fact you don't know what starting arrangement you'll get so you aren't going to be prepared to just throw out one of 4 or 5 moves that you know will always lead to a solid game. The reason 20-30 seconds is perfectly acceptable in standard tournaments and most variations is because everyone has 4 or 5 moves they know they can play, as well as a small handful of responses they regularly play as Black. In 960 the information isn't known to you as White until that timer has already started, so you effectively have to do all those assessments you listed in 20-30 seconds from an unknown starting position, and if it takes you a few seconds to connect you are effectively forced to just throw out anything that doesn't look immediately damning. If you're playing a classical clock, but being forced to blitz your first move or lose the entire game, it just seems flawed. *shrug* I don't really play 960 but I've wanted to for awhile, the easiest way to get games in would be tournaments, but I'm not going to race to make an opening move or lose every single game when I'm still trying to develop a repitoire. It's one main reason I don't play the variant.
You're giving me the impression that you expect my argument to be about "compromising", which is in no way true. (I'm not going to read all that.) Chess960 isn't about variations or the arrangement, but regular (lol) chess in a set up where weaknesses are different.

The key is to play for a critical opening that makes sure your first few moves are all very good and try to take chances when your opponent isn't playing well in the opening, instead of seeking for the best lines such as expanding your diagonal and blocking in your other options.

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