Einstein called chess a waste of time, what do you think?

As Einstein once quoted chess was a waste of time for him, he only played it to relax from his exhausting studies of physics. Do you think it is a waste?

Perhaps he meant a pastime, rather than a waste of time?

50% of Einstein quotes are made up. 

Einstein said that he didn't have time for any games, and made that statement in the context of explaining that he had not yet tried the game of 3 dimensional chess. 

https://www.quora.com/Did-Einstein-say-that-chess-is-a-waste-of-time

And even if Einstein did say that he felt games are universally a waste of time, that statement carries real weight outside of his personal opinion -- as the choice as to how one spends their recreation or chooses to make a living isn't something that has an objectively best answer. 

Einstein also was an avid smoker and is quoted as saying he believed it to be beneficial for relaxation and clear thinking. He didn't wear socks. He was a quirky dude. 

"Emanuel Lasker was undoubtedly one of the most interesting people I came to know in my later years. ... I am not a chess expert and therefore not in a position to marvel at the force of mind revealed in his greatest intellectual achievement - in the field of chess. I must even confess that the struggle for power and the competitive spirit expressed in the form of an ingenious game have always been repugnant to me. I met Emanuel Lasker at the house of my old friend, Alexander Moszkowski, and came to know him well in the course of many walks in which we exchanged opinions about the most varied questions. ... it seemed to me that chess was more a profession for him than the real goal of his life. ... the chess playing of a master ties him to the game, fetters his mind and shapes it to a certain extent so that his internal freedom and ease, no matter how strong he is, must inevitably be affected. In our conversations and in the reading of his philosophical books, I always had that feeling. ... I liked Lasker's immovable independence, a rare human attribute, in which respect almost all, including intelligent people, are mediocrities. ... I am thankful for the hours of conversation which this ever striving, independent, simple man granted me." - Einstein (1952)

He may have been a big fan of chess had he been a bigger believer in quantum mechanics.

I find it amazing anyone would even make a website for chess and it's apparently got 18 million members. I might as well make a website for ludo.

only around 200,000 are actually active

If chess relaxes him, then it's not a waste of time by my definition.  Kind of like sleep; some people call it a waste of time, but I don't.

He was a chess player, but never said that.  

the interwebz...where you can quote anyone, about anything, at anytime.

Lasker was also a professor as his "regular" job - he & his brother had many business ventures, some very successful, some disastrous. He often returned to chess after a layoff to make some quick money. After WWI, he was broke so went back to teaching & then chess again.

He & Einstein grew to be close friends over time. Once a chess writer asked Lasker how much he understood of the great physics debates between Einstein & Bohr. He paused a moment, then replied, "I understand physics far better than Albert understands chess!"

It depends. Do you think spending your entire life studying how the universe works is worth it? Even if you do learn everything, what can you earn? Satisfaction? You can get that from chess too. Respect? Also from chess. At the end of the day is doing anything at all really worth it when we're just a tiny planet in the universe, or since we're gonna die anyway.

I know I sounded really morbid there but I'm trying to illustrate a point. Just because Einstein said something doesn't mean you should agree with him. It's weird that people believe everything from geniuses these days. If you think chess is worth it then chess is worth it. Stop making a fuss over einstein, bill gates or newton etc. They're geniuses, let them be and don't let their opinions interfere with your interests

I basically agree with Einstein. In any way that chess is beneficial, there are surely activities that would be more effective. It consumes time, energy and motivation without offering anything but idle amusement in return (excepting the limited possibilities of being a professional which are more a way of fooling keen players trying to justify their efforts). The deceptive attraction of chess is that it is unambiguous and precise, but it is infinitely far from unique in this respect. I think I'll play a bit of blitz now.

evolution and chess are not much different really.

Yeah, just the same, like astrophysics and pork sausages.

As a famous poet once wrote:

"To see the Theory of Evolution in a game of Chess
And Astrophysics in a Pork Sausage,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."

xD

"Don't believe everything you read on the Internet" - Aristotle

It was used in Highlander; the series as a teaching aid for battlefield tactics.