for what reason do you play chess?

hi everyone..is there a reason for you to play chess?please share your thoughts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGkcnUy3l-c

The first sentence in this song encapsulates it all.

Well , it gives me a freedom that does not exist on the real life plane. I can express myself without any restriction!

winning?

Nothing better to do.

I'm nearly 70.  I play for fun and to maintain an active mind.

I started when I was eight or nine.  I would play every sunday with my father because it was the longest period of time I saw him throughout the entire week.  Sometimes, it was the only time I saw him all week.  I was loosing constantly, but I didn't care because for that 1 hour interval, he was there.

I know somebody who was fifth year senior (held back his senior year in highschool) and he was rated about 1600 USCF.  Does that prove intellectual superiority?

Ofc if you're bad it doesn't prove anything in your favor.

I play chess because it's such an extremely deep game. While remaining simple.

I just like learning new things. And in chess there's always something new to learn. I'm also learning the programming language "Python" just for fun!

I was watching Chris Hadfield, our Canadian astronaut and 35th commander of the International space station on the NASA channel yesterday. He was being interviewed on the ISS and was asked what qualities make a good astronaut. The desire and ability to learn new things was number one on his list.

because it is so utterly meaningless and hurts noone. I so enjoy it.

I first played chess when I was a child, but then stopped because I had nobody to play with.  About two years ago I taught my children because their friends played in a tournament at school.  One year later, my son won that same tournament.  I'm hopelessly hooked on chess, but the kids are starting to lose interest.  I enjoy it because I can keep learning and improving. 

Hi Sky. Okay, since you said please:

I like the challenge of improving (even if it's only a little steady improvement over time). And, I like the joy that only comes from learning something new. I also like to look back at old games, compare them to newer ones, then see the difference in understanding -- just a few months can bring. Something else I find appealing, is the way you will be able to play chess for... the rest of your life.

What is your reason?

It was either alcoholism or chess  . . . so I chose both.

don't really know anymore. I think I like the challenge to work hard with the brain.

thank you everyone.for me chess is an adventure and lots of new knoledge...

I'm a throwback to 19th century players the old romantics I only want to win games as beautifully as I possibly can nice mates, beautiful combinations, sacrifices, tactical shots that knock my opponent out cold, beautiful endgames.

The other stuff other players spend their entire lives obesssing over like their rating and playing to a score sheet I do not care about.

To cru.... Never mind.

Sky94, we've told you why we play chess, but why do you play chess.

I actually don't know. Maybe it gives me intellectual satisfaction :)

at least I like doing tactics or studying more than playing games - but I think this will change some day... when this game becomes finally clearer to me