Camera shutter remotes
Cheap "AB Shutter" style remotes are Bluetooth keyboards. Use the Android button: it sends Enter, which switches the clock. The iOS button sends Volume Up, and phone browsers never pass that key to a page.
Bluetooth chess clock
for remotes and boards.
This page is a working Bluetooth chess clock. Pair a Bluetooth remote, pedal, keypad or game controller with your phone or laptop, then press it to switch the clock below in any browser. In Chrome, Edge and other Chromium browsers you can also connect a DGT3000 BLE Gateway or a supported electronic board over Web Bluetooth.
Checking remote input support…
Checking Web Bluetooth…
CHESS LINKREADYPress a paired remote, or connect a device below
Remote: listeningDevice: none
Bluetooth clock
Space switch · P pause · F full screen · S settings · works offline
Use a Bluetooth remote, pedal or controller
Any Bluetooth device that your phone or computer treats as a keyboard or game controller can press this clock. Pair it in your system settings first. The page then listens for its buttons, so no browser Bluetooth permission is needed and it works in Safari, Firefox and Chrome alike.
Press a button to test it
Waiting for a key or controller button…
No game controller detected yet. Press any controller button to wake it.
Button mapping
| Clock action | Keys and buttons | Assign |
|---|---|---|
| Switch active side | ||
| White presses | ||
| Black presses | ||
| Pause or resume | ||
| Reset while paused |
Click a key to remove it. Space, P, S and R keep their usual clock shortcuts.
Presentation clickers
Presenters send Page Up and Page Down. The back button presses White and the forward button presses Black. Logitech-style slideshow keys send F5 and Escape, which switch and pause.
Pedals and keypads
AirTurn and PageFlip page-turner pedals offer arrow, Page Up/Down and Space/Enter modes, and all are mapped. On a numeric keypad, 1, 4 and 7 press White while 3, 6 and 9 press Black.
Game controllers
Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro and 8BitDo controllers use the browser's Gamepad API. The left bumper, left trigger and the up or left D-pad press White. Their right-hand counterparts press Black. A or Cross switches sides, B or Start pauses, and Back resets a paused clock. Press one button first so the browser exposes the controller.
Connect a Bluetooth chess clock or e-board
Web Bluetooth lets a Chromium browser talk to a Bluetooth Low Energy device directly. Only a device chosen in the browser prompt is exposed to this page. Supported hardware then drives the clock above: a DGT3000 fitted with the open-source BLE Gateway works as a full two-way clock, and supported boards switch the clock whenever a move is completed.
- Device
- None selected
- Driver
- –
- Status
- Idle
- Battery
- –
- Model
- –
- Last event
- –
Event log
Nothing logged yet.
Device support
| Hardware | What this page does |
|---|---|
| DGT3000 with the BLE Gateway | Full clock. Lever presses switch this clock, the physical display follows this page's time control, and both times stay in sync. |
| DGT Pegasus | Move detection. Lifting a piece and placing it on another square presses the running side. |
| Chessnut Air, Air+, Pro and Go | Move detection with piece colours, so a move by White presses White's clock. |
| Millennium ChessLink boards (eONE, Exclusive, Supreme) | Move detection with piece colours. |
| Square Off (original Kickstarter model) | Experimental move detection from the board's move messages. |
| Boards using the Lichess peripheral protocol (ArduinoBleChess, OpenChessBoard BLE) | Each reported move presses the clock and is acknowledged to the board. |
| DIY buttons over the Nordic UART service | Generic mode: every notification presses the clock, and "L" or "R" messages press a side. Flash the two-button ESP32 sketch to build one. |
| DGT Bluetooth e-Board, ChessUp, GoChess, iChessOne, Square Off Pro and NEO, Certabo BLE module | Not supported. They use classic Bluetooth or an unpublished protocol. The event log still shows what such a device sends. |
| Bluetooth clickers, pedals and keyboards | Not through Web Bluetooth, because browsers block the keyboard (HID) service. Pair them in the system and use the remote section above. |
No retail chess clock ships with Bluetooth Low Energy today. The DGT3000 BLE Gateway is an open-source ESP32 add-on that plugs into the clock's port and is also used by the Chessconnect extension.
What each status means
The screen at the top reports the furthest point reached in the browser handshake. It does not certify tournament compatibility.
- Ready
- The page is listening for paired remotes and controllers. Press one to test it, or press Connect to choose a Web Bluetooth device.
- No BT
- This browser does not expose Web Bluetooth, the page is not secure, or the Bluetooth adapter is off. Remote input still works.
- Scan
- The browser chooser is open. Select a device or cancel without granting access.
- Link
- A device was chosen and its GATT server is connecting.
- OK
- The device is connected and a driver is running. The device card shows which driver, and the event log shows every press or move it reports.
- Recon or Lost
- The link dropped. The page retries three times with increasing delays, then asks you to choose the device again.
Bluetooth privacy and honest limits
Device selection stays inside the browser's permission interface, and remote input never leaves the page. This page reports connection details and device events in the current session only, and it does not send a nearby-device list, key presses or board positions to the ChessClock.now server. Your button mapping is stored in this browser. The privacy policy explains the wider storage boundaries.
Web Bluetooth works in Chromium browsers on Android, Windows, macOS and ChromeOS. Safari, Firefox and every iPhone browser do not offer it, though iPhone owners can open this page in the Bluefy browser app to reach a board. The browser blocklist also keeps keyboard-type devices out of Web Bluetooth entirely, which is why remotes are handled through system pairing instead. Support for each board comes from community-documented protocols and can change with a firmware update. For an explanation of browser roles, hardware protocols and the difference between peripheral connections and phone-to-phone play, continue to the Bluetooth chess clock guide.
Bluetooth chess clock questions
Does this Bluetooth chess clock work with a Bluetooth remote or clicker?
Yes. Pair the remote, pedal, keypad or game controller with your phone or computer, open this page and press it. The page maps Enter and similar keys to a switch, arrow and page keys to White or Black, and controller buttons to the same actions. It works in Safari, Firefox and Chrome because no browser Bluetooth permission is involved.
Which chess clocks and boards connect over Web Bluetooth?
A DGT3000 fitted with the open-source BLE Gateway works as a full two-way clock. DGT Pegasus, Chessnut, Millennium ChessLink, the original Square Off and boards using the Lichess peripheral protocol switch the clock when a move is completed. Any other Bluetooth Low Energy device can use the generic mode, where each notification presses the clock.
Why did the Bluetooth chooser not open?
Web Bluetooth needs a secure page, a Chromium-based browser such as Chrome or Edge, a Bluetooth adapter that is switched on and a deliberate button press. Safari, Firefox and iPhone browsers do not offer it. Remote and controller input still works in those browsers.
Can two phones connect directly through Web Bluetooth?
No. Phone browsers do not expose the peripheral role needed for a direct browser-to-browser Bluetooth link. Use an online invite room for two synchronized phone screens, or one phone with a Bluetooth remote for each player.
Why does my clicker's iPhone button do nothing?
Shutter remotes send Volume Up from their iOS button, and phone browsers never pass volume keys to a web page. Use the remote's Android or Enter button instead, or assign another key in the button mapping.