This is what I always thought as well. The only reason chess doesn't get boring after a while is because you never know when your opponent is going to play a wild move out of nowhere, and suddenly neither player knows what they're doing and has to quickly improvise. And then there are the moments where your opponent play a love that looks normal at first glance, but then you realize it's a blunder and now you're winning.
Games that come down to intelligence, quick thinking and keen observation are fun. Games where one poor decision can make the position do a complete 180 are thrilling. And chess is the perfect combination of both.
After looking at way too much data, the graph above should either make you feel better or worse, depending on how you look at chess.
People often talk about chess as if it were a “luck-free game.” Unlike dice or cards, there is no hidden information and no random rolls, so in theory every move should be determined by pure calculation and skill. But in practice, the human side of the game makes luck unavoidable. Players miss tactics, pieces happen to be in just the right place, your opponent misses your hanging queen, accidental mate, and missing or blundering M1. Suddenly, one mistake changes the entire outcome. That is luck, even if it comes disguised as “your opponent blundered.” At lower levels, nearly half of games are decided by these swings, and even among strong players, a solid third of rapid and blitz games are still shaped by fortune. Sometimes it is a major blunder, other times it is a happy coincidence like a piece guarding a square you never actually planned for.
This does not mean chess is not a skill game. Skill reduces how often luck decides the outcome, and at the very top levels with long time controls, luck’s role is much smaller. But it never goes away entirely. That is why it is good to keep perspective. Do not puff up your ego after a win, because it may have been a gift from the chess gods, and do not crush yourself after a loss, because sometimes the break just went against you. Chess is both a battle of skill and a dance with chance, and embracing that tension can actually make the game more enjoyable.