How to stop buying chess books?

I guess I am not the only one with this problem - buying more chess books again and again. I already have like 15-20 titles. In best case I've read 10% of what I own. It might take me another 10 years to finish the rest. And still I have this urge to buy more - I've almost ordered another 3 on Amazon today.

I don't buy blindly - I choose them carefully, read reviews, try to download an excerpt. But I know in advance that I will read few pages and then store it on my shelf because I'll have no time!

How do you deal with this?

I even get into all kind of strange arguments with myself like "buying a book is good because it will give some money to the authors" and "not buying is good because it will save some trees"?

I use this method: I choose three books, one about opening, one about tactics and strategy and one about endgame. I study them and I don't buy any other book until I've finished them. This usually works with me. I know someone can think that buying lots of book he will become a much better player, but it doesn't work in this way...you have also to study them!

I have a 100+ collection of chess books (hard copy, ebook, pdf downloads) and I will buy/download more. Obviously I have not read all books (not even close), but the upside of owning this many books is that I can actually choose what I like. If I want to study endgames I can choose which kind. If I want to look up on an opening I have played OTB for post game analysis, then I can find the variation I played and see where I trailed off. I take ebooks with me in the train to work and do some tactics along the way. So I don't really feel bad about having this number of chess books. They all come in handy at some point even though I will not read all of them cover to cover.

This is a good think if you have lot of money, actually I'm not so rich so I keep reading my three books at time.

Instead of buying books I may, or may nor read, I spend my spare time watching the chess lesson videos on this site. Its more entertaining and more instructive just reading.

I don't buy them all at once and I do look out for discounts. I have been buying chess books since I was in my late teens, so in 20 years I have gradually build up my collection.

In the past I would go to my favorite second hand book store (before they closed some years ago) every month, just to see what they had for sale. Most books would go for 5 - 10 euro and I just love the smell of old and used books. I actually got my hands on a second hand (or third) copy of Nimzowitch's 'Mein System' in German.

Maybe they should start a chess books anonymous organization.

I also go always for second-hand book... I agree about the smell

Are you seriously crying for help about your addiction to chess books? lol.  Tell you what.  When you start robbing liquor stores to fuel your chess book habit, then maybe we'll have an intervention.

Thinking back to when I was a student at University I bought plenty of books which I carried about but never read - but I did pass exams as they came along (just about) so perhaps the information in the books managed to make its way into my head by some sort of osmosis.

So don't despair - you may get some value from those books yet.  Do carry them about, tho' - not sure the osmosis technique works from a bookshelf.

Don't stop! Why should you, if it gives you pleasure? 

It's okay : there are much worse addictions than this !

Yep - could be diet books.

I have a huge list of chess books I want to buy in Amazon, and I buy them only when I consider the price right. They are in "saved for later" and everytime I click on the cart is like to see the stock market going up or down.

Now it absolutely doesn't matter that you read them or not, because if you don't have photographic memory how would you know if you read something after 6-12 months?

The important thing is to have them around, because that is what makes of you a chessplayer. Fischer, Spassky, all the other champions had hundred of books, and obviously they didn't remember all of them, or read all of them.

So instead of giving your money in taxes which are used by corrupt politicians for killing other people in wars, or for their own mistresses, it is better to spend them in books. And the argument of saving trees is silly, because actually trees are planted in this way. When they destroyed the Amazon forest wasn't for printing books, but for the cattle.

Nowadays we have top notch chess culture pouring out from GMs of the former Soviet Union, and just 40 years ago that was unthinkable, imagine how lucky we are!

oh boy. where to start with that post?!? are you implying that there is no ground between having a photographic memory and forgetting any information you take in almost immediately?

and no, having books around and not reading them is not what makes you a chess player. bobby fischer was said to have read every major book  chess published in english by the time he was 14. so yeah, reading them is a pretty good idea. obviously some books don't need to be read cover to cover, but can be used more as reference books, you still need to read them to get anything out of them though.

Maybe you should work on your reading comprehension: I wrote, and you can check: 6-12 months later. Please prove me wrong. Read an opening book now, tell me the title, and after 6-12 months I will ask you to show me a game from that book or an opening line, and let's see if you remember it at all.

You also confuse "reading" (I read tons of books) with "studying" them. Fischer in reality had a photographic memory. His last biography mention the fact that he had a book with more than 300 games played by Spassky, and he would ask the friends to tell a number of a game, and he would replicate it on the board. However, I doubt that you, me, the OP, and the other 99.9% of people writing in these forums do have such memory. So they comform to my intial statement, that after 6-12 months they will not remember anything about that book, or maybe less than the 10% (especially if they have a life, families and work), making the book something they just parse through like one would do on a shelf of a bookshop or a library.

Welcome to the club!  once upon a time ,when I had a good income I start to buy chess books ,later I start to buy used chess books on Used book library and Sunday parks sales ,when money start to be tie I  get a lot of free books on internet. I had a huge amount of chess stuff  , of course  I not read even the 10 % and same never will.sometimes I give away to same new players ,make same trade . Today I go to my chess club and we have a huge collection of books magazines stuff to check for free and take home for study so no more need to buy book. But when I see a good used chess book I cant control myself to get it. 

i was using hyperbole to emphasise my point.

again, you still seem to be implying that it's pointless studying books if you do not have a photographic memory. yes, most gm's have incredible memories, no that doesn't mean it's futile to study books without having the same level of memorisation capability.

maybe you should just try really hard to try to stop buying them or just keep buying them so theres no more worries

I fully agree on tactics trainers - I use them a lot. But chess videos are too passive method of learning IMHO. I gave it a try in the past but I don't use them anymore. For me a winning combo is a good book + an accompanying PGN/CBH. This gives you an opportunity to play every position against an engine and you can repeat it as exercise later to check if you still remember what you have learned from the book.