Online Chess Addiction - the problem and the solution

It is surprising the amount of players who have publicly admitted it. Doing some research, I can see that what sustains an online chess addiction are the same 4 principles that sustain any game addiction:

1. gives you a temporary ESCAPE from some stressful situation
2. brings you to a SOCIAL community, giving you the sense of belonging
3. puts you in a GROWTH journey, reminding you of it through a constant feedback loop of instant gratification
4. makes you feel challenged, giving you a sense of PURPOSE, a mission and a goal to work towards

Now, how to make it stop being an addiction?

The general advice given for gammers is to find those 4 goals in some other area of life. I find that to be quite a hard thing to do when you are already an adult and you have lots of responsibility, kits, job, etc. But I found another solution, much easier.

For me, the most powerful thing was to design properly my goal in chess. I chose one which is quite hard (for me), but seems reachable:

Bullet: 2000+
Blitz: 2100+
Rapid: 2200+
Classical: 2300+
Correspondence: 2400+
Puzzles: 2500+

Now I only use this account when I'm really focused. Usually that means just one game in the morning. When I"m not so focused, I refrain from playing to avoid hurting my rating. But I have a draft account to do some practicing.

There (in the draft account) I really don't care for my rating. This lack of competitiveness (on the draft account) makes it quite easy for me to stop playing whenever I wish to do something else. My rating tends to be lower in the draft account, but still I can play higher rate opponents, through tournaments. Tournaments are a good way to gauge your performance. When I don't feel like I'm performing super well, I just stop.

How about you?

Gammer 'Someone who likes eating gammon'

when does online chess become a problem? Is there a number of hours/games that we should be concerned about? Is playing every day problematic?

I would say that when it inteferes with other aspects of your life negatively then its a problem. A bit like any other addiction really. My family say I am addicted to online chess........Of course I deny it ........addicts usually do.........

If I was missing out on other activities, or staying up way later than I intended, I would be concerned.

I seem to find it far easier to stop playing after a win. When I lose I will often keep playing.

@Bellendo , I agree, but when addiction kicks in, the hours/day figure tends to grow, like a monster that wants to devour your day.

If you find it easier to stop after a win, why is that? Is it because the win moves you closer to your peak rating?

I don't think so. Its more likely that my brain likes the dopamine rush that it gets if I win. Once it has that I can log off and do something constructive!

Just use a website blocker.

@InkyDarkBird , actually I already use an excellent one, named "Cold Turkey". But it's not enough. When chess cravings get too strong, we tend to unlock it. I also tried some special features to make it hard to unlock, such as random text and time restriction.

But yet I feel like defining a clear purpose in chess, one which is hard to accomplish, had a better effect. It transformed me from a "compulsive gambler" to "goal seeker".

Example of how it works:

Right now I was playing a Blitz game and about to make one step towards my 2100 goal. I had an extra bishop, more time in the clock and no complications. Yet, I got a phone call and that has distracted me enough for my opponent to checkmate me. This teaches me the lesson: before starting a game, make sure that time is appropriate - don't play during busy hours.

@EvilChess you paint too pretty a picture of 'addiction.' in my opinion the desire to play is to boost low self esteem, by winning and feeling clever. if you win, you need to do it some more, and then some more. if you lose, you are even more desperate to repair self esteem, and more likely to lose due to the desperation. that's when my addiction is strongest, a series of losses and frantic efforts to reverse it
(btw, when I say 'you' above, I mean it in the general way, 'someone' or a person. I am not saying anything about you personally or your particular experience)

Yes, @sparowe14 that's what I called the "compulsive gambler" behavior, and the self-esteem fluctuation does play a role in that.

But guess what? That effect is not affecting me anymore.

When I just want the boost, that little dopamine shot, then I use the draft account instead of the main one. And there my rating doesn't matter. It is always 100-200 points behind anyway.

I only play with my main account when the weather and everything is telling me that I'm ready to play at my best.

So when I'm not playing I feel good because I know that I will reach my goals. I can see it happening. So I get the reward anticipation dopamine, without playing. My job is to just choose wisely the best time to play (with the main account).

Since the dopamine from reward anticipation is more powerful than the dopamine of immediate reward (compulsive gambler behavior), I am always focused on my main account and don't feel the need to use the draft account too much.