What Does 3+2 Mean in Chess?

Short answer: 3+2 means each player starts with 3 minutes on the clock and gets 2 extra seconds added back after every move they make. The first number is the base time in minutes, the second is the increment in seconds. It is the most popular blitz control in chess and the time control of the FIDE World Blitz Championship. Below you will see how the 2 seconds add up, how long a 3+2 game takes, and what its faster cousins 2+1 and 1+1 mean.

How the 2 Seconds Add Up

Every chess time control is written the same way: base time, then increment. With 3+2 you start on 3:00, and each time you finish a move and press your clock, 2 seconds go back onto it. Two seconds sounds like nothing, but it is the difference between a game you can finish and one you lose on time with a queen up.

Moves Played	Seconds Earned	Most Time You Can Use
20	40 sec	3 min 40 sec
40	1 min 20 sec	4 min 20 sec
60	2 min	5 min

That last column is per player, so double it for the longest a game can run. Without the increment, 3+0 turns every long endgame into a race to flick pieces before the flag falls. With it, you always get 2 seconds per move, which is enough to play real moves.

Is 3+2 Blitz?

Yes, 3+2 is blitz everywhere. FIDE classes a game by the time each player gets for 60 moves: base time plus 60 increments. For 3+2 that is 3 minutes plus 2 minutes, so 5 minutes each, inside the blitz band of 10 minutes or less. Chess.com and Lichess estimate with 40 moves instead (3 minutes plus 80 seconds, about 4 minutes 20 seconds) and both file that under blitz too. FIDE plays its World Blitz Championship at 3+2.

For the exact cutoffs between the speeds, see bullet vs blitz vs rapid.

What 2+1 and 1+1 Mean

The same reading works for the faster controls. The first number is minutes, the second is seconds added per move.

Written As	Base	Increment	Online Category	Try It
1+0	1 min	None	Bullet	Start 1+0
1+1	1 min	1 sec	Bullet	Start 1+1
2+1	2 min	1 sec	Bullet	Start 2+1
3+0	3 min	None	Blitz	Start 3+0
3+2	3 min	2 sec	Blitz	Start 3+2
5+3	5 min	3 sec	Blitz	Start 5+3

So 2+1 means 2 minutes each plus 1 second a move, and 1+1 means 1 minute each plus 1 second a move. Online sites call both of them bullet. FIDE has no bullet category at all, so over the board anything up to 10 minutes counts as blitz.

How Long Is a 3+2 Game?

Most 3+2 games finish in 6 to 10 minutes. A 40 move game gives each player at most 4 minutes 20 seconds, so the longest a 40 move game can run is under 9 minutes, and a long 60 move endgame tops out at 10.

Running a Blitz Event at 3+2

3+2 is a great choice for a pub night or a club blitz evening because rounds are short and nobody waits long for the next game. Allow 12 to 15 minutes per round once you include slow finishers and the next pairing, which fits 8 to 10 rounds into two hours.

• Use a real increment. 3+2 is far kinder to casual players than 3+0 or 5+0, because nobody loses a won game to a blunder under a falling flag.
• Have a clock on every board. A phone works fine: the free online chess clock opens already set to 3+2.
• Let software do the pairing. With rounds this short, hand pairing becomes the bottleneck. Free chess tournament software like ChessHost draws the next round in a tap.

Want a slower night instead? See what 15+10 means for the classic rapid control.