Why you play Chess

I was wondering the reason some of you guys joined like I want to find out your motivation for playing chess. Is it because you want to have something to spend your time on or you love chess but have no one to play with so you joined this site. I am just wondering, like I joined for both of the reasons stated above but what about you?

i don't know anyone in real life that plays chess. the excuse i hear most often is that it is too difficult and requires too much thought to play. it's the same excuse i hear about philosophy (another one of my passions). simply put, people prefer to not think too hard about anything ever. at least that is my experience.

i, on the other hand, love analyzing and thinking and most of the things i do revolve around deep thinking even for entertainment purposes. i also really enjoy skill games against other people where there isn't a lot of luck involved (since i am insanely unlucky).

I play chess because it benefits me when I'm playing it.

It's a great game.

I play for several reasons:

1. To exercise my brain.

2. To kill with my mind.

3. To be less impulsive and think things through.

4. To learn to think calmly under pressure.

5. For fun.

I began playing as a teen-ager and played in only two tournaments before life took me in other dirctions and demanded too much of my time.

Now I'm retired and have the time to play and learn.  Mental exercise is mandatory to help stay sharp as we get older.  Some people work crossword puzzles, but I have chosen to return to chess and see how far I can get before time gets me.

I also believe that our youth are being lured away from mental exercises and games of analysis by video games and flash-image entertainment.  Chess teaches patience, planning, analysis and all those things lacking in today's popular electronics scene, so I am also becoming very active in endorsing and teaching young players and older adults.

I started because I enjoy learning and I enjoy a challenge/competition.  Chess seemed to offer both endlessly because there would always be something to learn, and always someone better than I was.

I joined the site mostly because I like talking about chess too, so at first I'd just look for questions on the forum and try to answer them as best I could.  I quit once because it became a habit and was eating up all my free time.  I'm close to that point again now actually.  Need to take a break from this place...

Ah yes Those are all cool reasons. I agree about today's youth not doing enough for their brains. I myself am a teen and enjoy video games but I also enjoy older things like chess and reading. Thank you all for posting!

  i play chess bcause my dad taught me how and i love the game

Another scary thing about todays youth (including myself) is how we are not learning to remember things anymore, we learn how to get the information. Like Google. 
Chess is a great way to try and keep memorisation. 

Because my IQ is way freakin high.  Like up in the stratosphere.  Seriously, it scares me sometimes.