I did though. Also remember how many great chess players have gone crazy. The most eccentric and unstable people I've ever met in my life were chess players.
Anyway that's not the point of this thread. I'm just sharing my experience. Alcoholics anonymous kind of thing.
I became so obsessed with chess.com that I stopped doing everything else; I've lost my job and my home, my wife and kids, and all my friends, 2/3 of my body weight, and I now live out of a shopping cart. I go to public libraries to play online during the day. Sometimes I go into computer stores that have free internet and play there, until they throw me out. My friends under the bridge have a stolen laptop and we play the free chess game that came with the computer, but the battery keeps dying and we have to find someplace to recharge it.
I guess my life isn't really much different; all I was doing was playing chess before and that's all I do now.
I did though. Also remember how many great chess players have gone crazy. The most eccentric and unstable people I've ever met in my life were chess players.
You're almost great. A couple more arrests and you might be remembered.
I disagree; I think chess is disgustingly patriarchal. Think about it - the queen scurries around making sure her man is safe, cozy and protected, but is worth only nine points, while the king barely lifts a finger and yet is of infinite value.
I myself am a proud, strong, feminist man-hater; so when I give in to my lust for chess, I am defiling all that I hold dear. There is no ruination worse than the loss of one's soul.
Aaaargh - for anyone wondering what my previous post is about, I wrote it in response to Crazy Jae's post on the first page. I thought my post would follow it.
A man hater...well I'm afraid I can't reciprocate, as I am a woman lover...lolololol
And as for chess players being messed up in the head...the voice tell me you are stupid if you think all chess players are nuts
Verbally assault women or physically or both?
I don't think that chess ruins lives. I think it saves lives.
Look at all the chess players who would otherwise be in bars and pool halls. That's where the trouble really can be found.
Chess can become an obssession just as being online can. Playing chess free online is LETHAL!
My wife left me
My wife left me
Yeah. She left me, too.... 
I once got punched by a chessplayer in Harvard Square.
You should have known it isn't wise to beat a wookie at chess.
Marriage is like a positional advantage, you still have to make the right moves or you might blew it.
My wife left me
Yeah. She left me, too....
I didn't know that in Finland a man can marry his mom.
Oh jauhin! The insult!
I once got punched by a chessplayer in Harvard Square.
please tell us the story of this event, chessmate
It started out as the odd game here or there. Next thing I knew it was all I could think about. I found I was sneaking a game in at work, and then even before I left for work or during my commute. I used to keep a board in my desk just so I could top off my coffee in the morning. All that was before I lost my wife, my family, my job, my car, my house, and all of my self respect. Now I live in the streets and have nothing but time for chess.
My name is TheGrobe and I am a chessoholic.
I'm addicted to chessohol.
It's not that I'm reducing myself to a deterministic machine, looking for some externality to blame for my mistakes. I've moved beyond them, and I'm simply observing a particular bad influence that is often lauded for its supposed benefits.
How many assaults has playing chess been linked to in the past? Where is the literature or even anecdotes about violent chess players? Where are all of the convicted GMs behind bars?
There is nothing in chess that encourages violence or desensitizes players to violence. NOTHING. It's one of the more abstract and non-violent recreational activities that you can participate in. Unless you can provide some specific and credible examples of how chess made you violent, your argument has no merit.