Microsoft remembering Bobby Fischer

Note that Microsoft's US 8,070,606  cites the Bobby Fischer patent, US 4,,884,255, "Digital Chess Clock."

The first claim of the Microsoft patent [Progressive stall timer ]:


A method of operating an online turn-based multi-player social experience executable via a processor on a server computing device, the method comprising:

acquiring from memory on the server computing device a base time interval allotted for a participant to take an action in a current turn;

providing the base time interval to the participant in the current turn; and

if the participant does not take an action in the current turn during the base time interval, then shortening the base time interval stored in memory on the server computing device to form a shortened base time interval and, in a later turn, acquiring from memory on the server computing device the shortened base time interval in which to take an action in the later turn and providing the shortened base time interval to the participant in the later turn instead of providing the base time interval;

wherein the shortened base time interval comprises a random value within a fixed percentage range of the base time interval.

Microsoft also cited Jay Walker.