Abstract:
We present a time keeping system for turn-based games which accepts time controls used in fast games but allows the game to be played in a correspondence manner similar to slow games. This gives players the enjoyment of playing fast games with time pressure but at a pace that is convenient for their busy schedule.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A turn-based game is one in which two or more players alternate being the active player to change the state of the shared game. The active player has the right to make changes to the current state of the game based on the predetermined rules of the game while the one or more non-active players must remain passive until the active player has finished. The players take turn being the active player. For the purpose of this invention the method of selecting the active player on any given turn does not matter, but is predetermined before the start of the game. This patent does not cover real-time games in which two or more players are simultaneously active and may concurrently manipulate the state of the shared game. 
     In order to keep a turn-based game progressing forward in a manner that is fair to all the players, a time keeping system is used to make sure that the active player uses only a predetermined amount of time to change the current state of the game. For example in the game of Chess a pair of clocks is used to keep the amount of time that each player has used. If a player uses more than the allotted time the predetermine rules decide the consequence for the active player. For example in Chess it is common for the active player to lose the game if the active player uses more than the allotted time. In other games the player may lose only the turn and not the game. 
     Before the game begins the time keeping system is configured with the amount of time allotted for the players. The specification of the allotted time is refereed to as a time control. Time controls are typically specified in terms of how much time the player may use per turn or how much total time the player may use for all turns of the game. For the purpose of this invention the details of the time control specification is not relevant. A fast game is one where the time control is fast enough to allow the game to be finished in a few hours. An example of a fast game is when the players must make each move within one minute or make all moves within two hours. A slow game is one where the time control is slow enough that the game will take days, months or even years to finish. An example of a slow game is when the players must make each move within two days or make all moves within one year. 
     Current time keeping systems for turn-based games do not allow the ability for players to engage in a fast time control game over an extended period of time. For example two Chess players may want to play with a time control of one minute per move, but may not have the time to complete the game in one sitting and would prefer to play the game over a period of many days or months. Current time keeping systems do not allow this since the time must always be deducted from the game clock of one player or the other. 
     The obvious solution of pausing the game by stopping the game clock of the active player so that time is not deducted from it does not work because it allows the active player to continue thinking about the current game state without losing any time. This would be unfair to the other players. 
     The following documents relating to this invention were considered:
         Time keeping systems in games   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-keeping_systems_in_games   Time control   http://en.wikipedia.org/wikaime_control   Correspondence chess   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correspondence chess   Digital Chess Clock   U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,255; Nov. 28, 1989; Robert J. Fischer   Chess Clock U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,067; Sep. 18, 1984; Donald M. Richardson       

     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention describes a system which allows players to engage in games with fast time controls while not requiring them to be continuously present and finish the game in one sitting. The invention describes a system and method which accepts two time controls and provides the ability to conceal the current state of the game from the players until the active player accepts to view the current state of the game. 
     Before the start of a game the system is configured with two time controls. The first is referred to as the game time control and the second is referred to as the acceptance time control. The system maintains two clocks for each player in the game. The first is referred to as the game clock and the second is referred to as the acceptance clock. 
     At the start of the active player&#39;s turn the allotted time on the game clock is set based on the game time control and the current state of the game clock. At the start of the active player&#39;s turn the allotted time on the acceptance clock is set based on the acceptance time control and the current state of the acceptance clock. During the game when a player becomes the active player the current state of the game is not shown to the active player until the active player accepts to view it. When the active player has not yet accepted to view the current state of the game the system deducts time from the player&#39;s acceptance clock. After the active player has accepted to view the game and the current state of the game has been shown to the active player the system stops deducting time from the player&#39;s acceptance clock and begins deducting time from the player&#39;s game clock. 
     While the active player manipulates the current state of the game the system does not allow the state of the game to be viewed by the other players. Once the active player finishes changing the state of the game and ends the turn the current state of the game is visible only to the active player and the changes are not yet visible to the other players. When the next active player has accepted to view the current state of the game it becomes viewable by all the players. The mechanism for concealing the current state of the game is provided by the game system and is only controlled by the time keeping system. 
     If the acceptance time control is not specified then the system does not deduct time from the acceptance clock and the active player does not have any time limit in which to accept viewing the current state of the game. However, when the active player has accepted to view the game and the current state of the game has been shown to the active player the system begins deducting time from the active player&#39;s game clock. 
     A key feature of the present invention is that it maintains fairness in the amount of time each player has to think about and change the state of the game while allowing fast time control games to be played over long periods of time. 
     In a preferred embodiment the time keeping system would be implemented in software to run on a PC, mobile device or web browser. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration showing the players, the game system and a typical time keeping system. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration showing the players, the game system and the time keeping system of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Although the present invention will be illustrated using two players, it is applicable to turn-based games with more than two players. Although the present invention will be illustrated using a time control with a fixed amount of time to make all the moves of the game, it is applicable to other time control formats as well. Although the present invention will be illustrated using human players, it is applicable even if one or more of the players are machines. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of the players  110  and  120 , the game system  180  and a typical time keeping system  160  for turn-based games which does not provide the benefits of the present invention. Before the game starts the time keeping system  160  is configured through interface  150  based on the time control that was chosen for the game. The remaining time on game clocks  114  and  124  are set using the configuration interface  150 . Players are able to view the current state of the game at all times through interface  115  for player  110  and interface  125  for player  120 . The active player has the right to change the state of the game through interface  116  for player  110  and interface  126  for player  120 . The time keeping system  160  maintains a game clock for each player. Game clock  114  is used for player  110  and game clock  124  is used for player  120 . If player  110  is the active player then the time keeping system  160  reduces the time remaining on the game clock  114 . When player  110  has finished changing the state of the game player  110  uses interface  113  to notify the time keeping system  160  that player  110  has finished the turn. The time keeping system  160  stops reducing the remaining time on the game clock  114  and begins reducing the remaining time on the game clock  124 . Player  120  now becomes the active player and has the right to change the state of the game through interface  126 . When player  120  has finished changing the state of the game, player  120  uses interface  123  to notify the time keeping system  160  that player  120  has finished the turn. The time keeping system  160  stops reducing the remaining time on the game clock  124  and begins reducing the remaining time on the game clock  114 . Player  110  now becomes the active player. This process of alternating turns between the two players continues until the game has ended. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of the players  210  and  220 , the game system  280  and the time keeping system  260  of the present invention. Before the game starts the time keeping system  260  is configured through interface  250  based on the two time controls that were chosen for the game. The remaining time on game clocks  214  and  224  and also the accept clocks  212  and  222  are set using the configuration interface  250 . 
     For the purpose of illustration we assume a scenario where the game starts with player  210  being the active player. When the game starts and player  210  becomes the active player the time keeping system  260  begins reducing the remaining time on accept clock  212 . The time keeping system  260  uses interface  270  to notify the game system  280  to not allow the players to view the current state of the game via interfaces  215  and  225 . When player  210  uses interface  211  to accept viewing the current state of the game, the time keeping system  260  stops reducing the time on accept clock  212  and begins reducing the time on the game clock  214 . The time keeping system  260  uses interface  270  to notify the game system  280  that all players can now view the current state of the game. Player  210  now has the right to change the state of the game using interface  216 . The changes being made by player  210  are not viewable to the other players. When player  210  has finished changing the state of the game, player  210  uses interface  213  to notify the time keeping system  260  that player  210  has finished the turn. The time keeping system  260  stops reducing the remaining time on the game clock  214  and begins reducing the remaining time on the accept clock  222 . Player  220  now becomes the active player. However, the changes made to the game by player  210  are not yet viewable by player  220 . When  220  uses interface  221  to accept viewing the current state of the game, the time keeping system  260  stops reducing the time on accept clock  222  and begins reducing the time on the game clock  224 . The time keeping system  260  uses interface  270  to notify the game system  280  that all players can now view the current state of the game. Player  220  now has the right to change the state of the game using interface  226 . When player  220  has finished changing the state of the game, player  220  uses interface  223  to notify the time keeping system  260  that player  220  has finished the turn. The time keeping system  260  stops reducing the remaining time on the game clock  224  and begins reducing the remaining time on the accept clock  212 . Player  210  now becomes the active player. This process of alternating turns between the two players continues until the game has ended.