Do amateurs spend an inordinate amount of time and energy on chess?

Are we just wasting our valuable time and energy? Is achieving mediocrity our best hope? Isn't it just a board game?

I spend my time on answering your four questions : no, no, no, yes !

What do you do with all the answers you get on the first three questions ? 

Let us know your opinion, as well as your age and profession !   Thanks.

Chess is a game.

Yes to everything you said Laundry_Race_Rod.

Don't be so cynical. There are some things in life that ARE significant.

Chess just ain't one of them.

No. Yes. Yes. We're no ants. Chess is a form of express ourselves, among a lot of others. Our mind needs something like that.

For those of us with addictive personalities (), chess is actually pretty harmless compared to gambling, drinking, and other substance abuse.  So sure it's a waste of time but there are far worse activites.  At least we're keeping our minds active.

Some of us are extraordinary as sinners.

"Chess is everything: art, science, and sport" Karpov

Say it!

I'm sure the OP will find us very helpful and instructive.

Considering that life has no purpose, chess is exactly as meaningful or as meaningless as anything else.

However it can deliver a certain sense of achievement and happiness even at my completely useless skill level. And as such becomes invaluable to me.

That material riches and fame on the other hand does not equal meaning to life or delivers happiness either is very clear. As could also be seen fe. recently in media.

Well, chess is not everything. For me, at least, it is not about earning money;-)

Many things in life are significant.  I think its pretty sad going through life thinking nothing matters.

There's quite some time spent on discussing football as well as playing chess, and one can't just stop doing all "pointless" things, at least not as long as they are not exaggerated in some unhealthy way. I think Blackburne said something about not teaching his kids to play chess though, he meant that it could be a dangerous drug.

¡No quiero!

If chess is a waste of time, then isn't every other activity done solely for pleasure also a waste?

The game of chess for me is very addictive. What I like best is the fact that I can spend a lifetime perfecting my game and still have more to learn. I'm a better player than when I started but I still have a long way to go before I will achieve anything worthy of tournament play.

If your goal is to become "teh best," it's a waste.

If you just want to play the game, and it's not ruining the rest of your life, it's fine.