Well lets start with why I am posting this note. I want to know how playing chess contribute to your well being and what orces influence you to play chess. I can start with sharing mine.

One of my high school classmates told me about chess. I became interested when I discovered that I can trick someone (or someone could trick me) in plain sight...it was like magic without the crappy cheaptalk. I thought that combinations were facinating. I am playing chess now because I like it for some reason I cannot explain. I know that I should play chess when i stop playing for a while.

Your Turn.

Well I play chess because its like war, its suppose to end in a draw. Of course the war becomes unfair if your enemy is not equiped or better may appear unequiped.

I get a high from the first 10-15 moves, every move matters, every choice has a consequence and most of all you pray your enemy doesn't see your plans.

The more I play chess the more I'm convinced that it is a vicious mental addiction. 

Not that I'm in a 12-step chess program or want to be.  That's what makes chess so insidious:  you don't want to be cured.

Perhaps I need an intervention.

I play chess because it's there.

Amy

What is it about chess that makes it addictive? Is math addictive? Monopoly?

its addictive cause we love it

1. Chess is always changing. There is always new theory, new players, new puzzles and ALWAYS new games unless you go for Scholar's Mate. There is always something to strive for which makes it exciting and fun; you never know it all.

2. Chess has personality. You have all these different types of pieces, all so different but yet they work together so magically. It's hard to find something as cool, that you can find every day, as a chess combination.

3. Getting to know people through chess. It's awesome, I met my best friend playing a game of chess.

In short, chess is FUN. :)

I have always loved puzzles and brain teasers. Things like these are among my favorites:

http://stores.brilliantpuzzles.com/StoreFront.bok 

I love chess because it's one continuous puzzle made of moving parts. All I have to do to solve the puzzle (win) is correctly analyze the gadget (position) and move the right part in a certain way. I know that's much easier said than done but that's what makes it such a good puzzle.

I'm addicted to maths cos I like puzzles. Same with chess.

One of the main reasons I got into chess about three months ago is that I missed two things from my school days... competition, and intellectual stimulation.

I imagine many of you are like me... you work at a job that is largely mindless and repetitive, and go home and stare at the flickerbox.

I find studying chess much more gratifying than any of the things I used to do with my leisure time. And I'm a competative person, and I had missed the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.

It is definately an addiction, but as they go, it is a cheap and harmless one. I don't think I'll ever quit.

Bumped into McDuffie one Thursday night at Borders and saw him sitting there with an open chess board.  Had not played in a long time.  "I have 20 minutes..."  He accepted my challenge.   An hour and a half later the game was still going on and I was late for my meeting.  It was a really intense game.  The looks I was getting from his friend, I could tell that McDuffie did not expect me to play the way I did.  I did not expect it either.  But anyway I got distracted because I was late for my meeting.  I ended up blowing the game.   I did not realize that I could play well because I always played better people who I lost to so much.  Especially my 2 older brothers.  I would cry when they called me a wood pusher.  I guess all the losing of games is paying off.  It makes your game stronger to play to better players.   I have also enjoyed the mental stimulation.  I think it is teaching me to think better and put my life into the places it needs to be.  The chess community is a very special one, mostly gentlemen.  Come on ladies  I know there are more of you out there who can do this to.  The respect from my chess colleagues is very uplifting.  Relationships are very important.  Chess is a great tool for building relationships.  It is also a great tool that builds your critical thinking skills.  I am thanking the Lord that my dad taught me how to play chess.

Ok here's a long story, take it or leave it...

It actually started as something I could do with my girlfriend in our long distance relationship.  When we are on the phone, we talk constantly, but ocassionally we would have webcam "dates" and find ourselves just staring at each other.  It was nice but...

Then we realized that we could play some online games together, and that gave us a central activity to focus on.  We've played multiple games including checkers, backgammon, even battleship!  However, chess games are something altogether different.  We feel like we are getting in each other's heads on a completely different level.  It's like our minds are wrestling.  It's a whole other dimension of our relationship and quite beautiful.  And, if we arrange the windows right, we can still stare at each other.  I love watching her plan her next move!  She's very competitive.  I told her I got my first book on chess and she immediately told me to return it.  (She's kidding of course...I think) 

Aside from that, I have been searching for the longest time for a way to give myself a kind of intellectual makeover.  I wanted to get away from activities that dull the intellect or otherwise do not serve any benefit other than to pass the time.  I have also been concerned about brain health.  I'm not stupid, but I tend not to be logical, concentrated, detail oriented, or strategic in my thinking.  I have a terrible "working memory."  Yet chess demands such qualities and also (IMO) cultivates them to a certain extent.  When I'm in an good game I can almost sware I feel my brain muscles flexing.  (Ok, I know they don't flex, but I think you know what I mean.) 

-DaveK

It's a bloody good game Somby, it's familiar , and it makes one think they are clever because one indulges : ^ )

Because i can! Enough said...

I think it is not an addiction but more along the lines of a mild and very benign neurolgic disorder we suffer.

Along the same fashion as is constantly twirling one's hair or a nervous tic.  It is just a much more complex and deeply manifested neural issue than something as simple as always getting red when embarassed.

Many people play and lose interest.  So much more than play intensely or under some compulsion.  If it were truly addictive, I suspect this would not be the case.

I've been playing chess for 25+ years and seems the first several years I formed a style that was pretty good, but not until the internet where I got to encounter many different styles did my game really start improving.

Addictive? There was one time for a couple of years I walked away and didn't play at all. After being coaxed back into it, now I can't seem to stop. Just like right now, up in the middle of the night just to make a few moves.  So, addictive? Perhaps. Maybe even more than we are willing to admit. Sure, I used to be sharper at the game a few years ago (Seems the older I get the less I can concentrate, generally). So what keeps me going? Is it addiction or the never-ending ability to study the game and learn more strategies? Not to mention the social benefits.

Addicting or not? I think that's a question that will never be answered, but I suspect it depends on the individual.

See ya on the board!