chess addiction

Until I discovered chess.com at the start of this year the thought of playing any type of chess on anything other than an ad hoc basis had not occured to me.

Now I play every day, sometimes several times in a day. I love the idea of playing like minded folk from all over the world and also the social interaction.

But my family tell me I'm getting addicted and while I tell them it is better than facebook and other online games (combining the best of both), I fear they may be right.

I have also noted the tendency to become stale evidenced recently by a number of blunders in games I should have drawn or won.

So what to do. Thoughts occur like giving up all together, strictly rationing to one session a day and limiting the number of games on the go at any one time, having a short break and coming back only after going through the computer analysis of the games I have played ...

Anyway, I love this game and this website and would be interested to know what other people think and if they have shared my experience?

if its interferring with work or family ya ration it. otherwise they just dont get it. (i hate facebook so anyone on it is an addict to me(just kidding))

It can be addicting - both playing chess and talking about it. I find I'm more addicted to reading and commenting in the threads than actually playing, but I'm only playing CC games now; haven't "graduated" to live chess

You are.

It can become that if you let it.

^Funny. But, his wife might still want a divorce!

Sure you can get addicted to chess. I know several people including myself who developed mental health problems because of chess.

Note that you could spend hours a day on this website without being an addict. What makes an addiction is how you feel about the substance or habit you consume / have. It is the relationship to the drug which makes the addiction, not using the drug itself.

Your first step should be to ask yourself why you spend so much time with chess. Then ask yourself what are the benefits, what are the bad sides of doing this. Once you have answers for these questions, you can make up your action plan on how to proceed with chess in the future.

The best approach is harm minimisation. Don't give it all up if you don't see the need for that. Maybe limit the time you spend online. Give yourself some rules like no more than an hour a day or only one game a day. Maybe all the options this website offers add to the addiction factor and you should work on chess in a different way. 

Funnily enough, I have the quite the opposite problem. I am afraid of real games, I only dare to play against the computer, do puzzles and read books. I do a lot of them, though. Which I need to for job reasons.

Threads about chess addiction

overcoming chess addiction

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/overcoming-chess-addiction?page=1

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http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/maybe-you-do-not-realize-that-chess-is-your-mental-trauma

MAYBE YOU DO NOT REALIZE THAT CHESS IS YOUR MENTAL TRAUMA!

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Online Gaming Addiction ?

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/online-gaming-addiction

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http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/chess-addiction10

Chess addiction

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http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/modern-type-of-addiction

modern type of addiction

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Are you addicted to chess and do you want go to into rehab?

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/are-you-addicted-to-chess-and-do-you-want-go-to-into-rehab

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See the topic below, in which a guy complains about the madness chess makes to him:

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/how-to-avoid-getting-really-mad-when-playing-chess

I really think chess is a serious addiction, for non-professionals.

If you are not a chess pro, or do not want to become a GM, IM, FM or so, you do not need to take chess too serious.

Chess, for non professionals, could become a serious addiction.

It only steals your time, if you do not make it fun.

Then, the secret is: make chess another way of fun to you, like other games or sports (if you play tennis, golf, you can compare).

Chess is only a fun game for me. I do not study it seriously, I only make fun from it.

As I am writing about fun, try to aswer this question:

HOW MUCH CHESS ADDICTS DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE A LIGHT-BULB?