Does chess count as gaming?

I have seen this question asked a couple of times on this thread before; does chess count or is chess considered gaming?

Personally I have always wondered the same thing. After completely cutting out console gaming, pc gaming, online poker, and finally social media from my life, playing online chess was all I had left. Whenever I got the itch to look at my phone, like I would have with Instagram, I would play a game of chess instead.

I told myself that it was a better alternative. It was still a distraction though. I still had this itch to constantly look at my phone and distract myself from reality. It fed into a habit of procrastination. That's what made me finally decide that chess counts as gaming addiction. When you are doing something so often that it is interfering with your higher priorities, it's time to let it go. I'm a little bit sad about it, because I was slowly getting better, but I can spend that time getting better at something else, like working out, reading more, or just taking better care of myself in general.