Delay

Delay is a clock mode that gives every move a small allowance without turning that allowance into banked time. With a 5-second delay, a move completed within those 5 seconds does not reduce the main time; if the player takes longer, only the excess consumes main time.

The essential difference from increment is that unused delay disappears when the move ends. Moving in 1 second with a 5-second delay does not save the other 4 seconds for later. With a 5-second increment, by contrast, the added amount can increase the time available for future moves.

Chess clocks can display this effect in different ways. Simple delay commonly shows a separate countdown before main time starts decreasing. Bronstein delay can instead subtract time and then restore, at the end of the move, up to the amount of delay actually used. In practical time accounting, both prevent a fast move from increasing main time above what it was at the start of that move.