Why are you playing chess?

I'm a school chess player . l play chess for my school . I like to play chess because it improves my thinking capacity & it teach me how to live in the world . My school , my coach , my teammates inspires me

I'm a school chess player . l play chess for my school . I like to play chess because it improves my thinking capacity & it teach me how to live in the world . My school , my coach , my teammates inspires me

I play chess because I am too good at it and it would be a huge loss for the world if I didn't play. Sometimes I'm a bit tired and take a break, but usually my concern for the future of those more weakly minded than me helps me find time and energy to play and inspire others.

It's cheaper than a movie and it's something I can do on the toilet.

Simply its fun!

My brain is not good at it but is drawn to it and really loves it.
A finite space with clear logical rules but near infinite possibilities and creativity.
Logical problems, spacial thinking and visualisation.

A lot of other games are somewhat like that but usually lack the initial impression of possibilities and creativity that a chessboard with it's different pieces exudes. (Ofcourse when you get into games like checkers there's no shortage of complexity and creativity but it doesn't have that strong initial attraction to me.)

Also images from my youth left an impression on me. Messing around with the "Grandmaster" program on the Commodore64 and seeing Kasparov on tv made a big impression. Though I did not really start playing till I was an adult and got connected to the internet..

I'm on an exchange program in Russia. Obviously chess is huge over here. I was hanging out with some friends one night and they brought out a chess board. I realized I hadn't played in years, since my brother had really taught me, and so I started to get more interested in it. I began participating in chess club and even placed in a Russian local tournament. 

I play chess because I love it. I love it because it's not only infinite and abstract and totally beautiful, but it's an international phenomenon. You can go pretty much anywhere, and chances are you'll meet someone who either knows how to play or can introduce you to the local variant of the game.  And yet it's still something that people can analyze infinitely. As a budding anthropologist I think that's fascinating. 

Also I find it helps me relax and think about things clearer

I like the fact that I'm constantly learning new ideas from some of my games and the few books I've looked at. I would say my style of play has changed significantly from 1 or 2 years ago. Sadly, nobody in my family plays chess, nor any of my closest friends so i don't get the otb experience that often.

I play to lose. I'm a loser, and chess makes me happy : the quickest way to lose. It is the way I love, ZAZEN, not the goal, the aim, decadent occidental faCHist thinking, i guess.

Oriental wisdom is mine, little be, the way to lose I take each game. Some times it derails, i win. I win what ? the right to play again. I'm an loouououoser, but happy.

in bridge card, my partner didn't like to lose. We split up.

in tennis, my daughter laughed when I lost games. In golf, paly alone you cannot lose, all finish in a hole, my life too.

But in chess, lovely is the way to imagine things, and paf! a stupid pawn comes and ... i lose. Better to laugh or otherwise coronarians will be out of order. 

Any question ? Hope it was decipherable. i just lost one game when writing those silly lines on a marvelous thread. Ty OP. Coming soon : why NOT play chess ? 

I was tired of everybody always beating so i just kinda started playing it.

I play chess 'cause my father and mother told me I was just a blunder

Why play chess? Not poker, majiang, scrabble, etc. It is the most challenging game. Sky is the limits for improvement.

I really have no idea why I play chess. Probably just an old habit I haven't given up.

it's like, on my computer things are all flat and require organization, and I want something 3D to fiddle with, and chess seems to satisfy that partially at least.  But it would be better if I would go outside and do something beneficial to the lawn or my car or whatever.  So basically, if I come here repeatedly without really doing anything, it's from restlessness.

I play chess so I can participate on chess.com's forum and help keep your thread alive.

I play chess because I play chess.

Naw just kidding.

What got me into chess was that I lived in place in the middle of the forest where such a thing as the internet didn't exist. Among the few games I could play, chess was one of them. When I discovered people in my elementary school played, I got interested, and then I realized chess was a big thing.

I swear I only have one account on CC            Just writing

Master_Yoba wrote:

I play chess because I am too good at it and it would be a huge loss for the world if I didn't play. Sometimes I'm a bit tired and take a break, but usually my concern for the future of those more weakly minded than me helps me find time and energy to play and inspire others.

Huge loss for the world if you didn't play? Tell me more

I play chess to train my brain.I used to play it around 1995 for a few years and now I am picking it up again.It beats watching tv by miles .

I play chess 'cause that makes me feel intellectually superior to those who don't play it.