Sure, playing chess needs intelligence, dedication, and good chess players are smarter than an average person. But it’s waaaay exaggerated in movies. I’m a math researcher, and in any movie, my department will be full of chess geniuses. But in reality, only about 10% of them even play chess.
Chess is a logic puzzle that changes as you play it, with the randomness coming from player interaction. If you’re not into solving those kinds of puzzles, you’re probably not going to have fun.
Pretty much the problem. It’s very pure but I find that puts me off rather than draws me in. I kind of have the same problem with Quake 3!
I find that I don’t like full games of chess, but chess.com has these little chess puzzles that highlight the surprising deviousness of the rules that can turn a sure defeat into a swift victory.
They also have an algorithmic engine that will calculate the general effectiveness of each move so you can get instant feedback, which I like.
I guess I need more focus in the things I play, and chess is just too broad as a game.