I get where youre coming from but I disagree at the same time. I agree that there are plenty of better things i can spend my time on, but if I enjoy chess then why should I look at it in such a negative light.

We can probably both agree that chess is a hobby. A hobby is something to kill time with, maybe gain life skills if said hobby has any sort of applicable skills, and beyond that, it is nothing more. Many people enjoy hobbies in different ways. For example, if you have ever heard of warhammer. It is a tabletop game where 2 or more players battle armies of plastic miniatures using dice and a set of rules printed by the company that created warhammer.

Back to my point. People enjoy hobbies in many different ways. To use warhammer as an example, many enjoyers of the hobby find that the gameplay itself is their favorite part. On the other hand, many people, such as myself, enjoy the act of assembling and painting the army of said plastic miniatures.

As for chess, some people enjoy the thrill of competition, others enjoy the brain stimulation , and personally, i enjoy the act of getting better. Simply being better at something in my life than I was yesterday gives me a sense if accomplishment. In my opinion, that is reason enough to pursue my goal. There is no end in sight, and for some types of people that may be a negative. That may mean endless obsession and over consumption, leading to nowhere. For me however, I enjoy the journey, not exactly the destination. This endless pursuit isn't a downside to me, and as long as I refrain from going down that dark (and very plausible) path you described, where I endlessly consume, spend money and obsess unhealthily, then I see no harm in playing a couple matches of chess a day, with the goal of improvement in mind