Time tesuji

A time tesuji (or time suji) is a forcing move that is played to avoid running out of time. If the game has time controls that include a per-move increment (for example, a bonus of 30 seconds per move), then a player who is low on time can play an irrelevant move to avoid running out the clock. If the move is sufficiently forcing, the opponent must respond, which means the player who played the time tesuji potentially gained some additional time on the clock without changing the game situation. This strategy is risky, though, as the opponent could potentially find a better response.

A skilled player might line up a few time tesujis ready to use in case the need arises. Sometimes it is important to play the time tesujis in a specific order, to ensure that as many as possible of them can be played.

The term time tesuji is borrowed from the game of Go, where it has the same meaning.