Because we have to.

Well seems like you answered your own question there mate....Well don't i feel useless. 

I like meeting crazy people

It's awesome, and I meet a lot of really cool people this way. 

I really like Patzer24's quote:

Patzer24

I play chess to make money and meet women

Goals - 1) Reach 2200 USCF NM, 2) Reach 2200 FIDE CM, 3) Reach 2300 FIDE FM

BELIEVE IT!

The first note was an IQ test; if you read it and said "oh", then you just lost a piece

To forget.

Chess rewards diligent analysis; it's a very rewarding game in general -- challenging, but overcoming a new challenge always gives you satisfaction.

Every position is different, so you never stop learning no matter what position you look at. Because of this the game can never really get stale, although it can tire your mind out, but that's easily solved by the occasional break.

It's simply a vast, very logical game, yet you can't just plug stuff into a formula and get the right move like you could in algebra. The game as a whole is too deep for that, and thus it really tests one's judgment and calculation skills; being able to see what truly works in any given position is a remarkably complicated ability, something that no one fully understands. But the quest to get just a bit closer to comprehending this mystery never has to end.

Sorry, this was rather grandiose

Bottom line: A pretty decent game.

A very important question! For me, I have yet to see a satisfying answer. When I find out the answer... I'll probably quit.

My temporary answer is probably: to enjoy.
And as mentioned by otherdog: to meet up with other weirdos every once in a while.

Two answers to ponder over...! ;-)

Bump (is that allowed in here?)

after many gours of chess study - many tournaments - Ive come to realize - chess is a game and at best a waste of time - by playing chess - does it really make this world a better place ? I personally dont think so 

mrgman just gave an awful couple sentences about chess.  And oddly enough if you've "come to realize - chess is a game" what did you think it was before?  And by, making the world a better place I think it actually does.  The prodigious amount of studies showing in helped performances in academia I think suggests it makes the world a better place.  And furthermore people get pleasure doing it, which really answers the thread's main question: why do we play chess?

What we should ask, if you must, is Why do we enjoy it?  And the answer for me is pretty simple: strategy, tactics, and a rich history.  It is afterall "History's Greatest Game."

 So why are you posting here, you should be out making the world a better place!

to crush my opponent

 so you can ignore your bossy wife.

I enjoy playing chess, and it is a fun game for me, but really it challenges me. It is one of those games I can never get bored with, one of those games I can never say I got it figured out, and even if I believe I do there would be a curveball that would crush that mindset. Video games are quite easy for me, and all they do is destroy my mind, though apparently giving me some good hands-eye coordination. Sudoku is easy for me too, and I do not really have the money to just go do things. Chess, though, it challenges me even when I play against myself! Even Self-analyzing causes me to look and think deeper, and even study more, and I cannot say that about anything else.

Plus it does not destroy my mind like everything else, it builds it up, like Sudoku. After being out of high school for over 5 years, with most of that time stuck in front of my television with a video-game controller in my hand, chess helps reverse the effect. That is why I play.

That sounds bleak.

I met my wife because of chess.  The game will always have a special place in my heart because of that.

Why do I still play? Ehh... *thinking*.... I enjoy it. Sure, I'll go with that. And I feel like I'm slowly but surely figuring out how to play progressively better all the time. Not that I harbor illusions of eventually becoming a master someday. If that happens, great! If it doesn't, that's okay, because I got to enjoy many great games along the way.

This is not my main goal, but it certainly happens. Chess has a disproportionate share of socially inept, kuh-razy people. At least it seems that way with the people I have met at the clubs I have visited. 8-}

The more difficult question is why on earth do we post in the chess.com forums?

For the pancakes;