I like Chess because there is something deeply philosophical about it:  It is amazing to discover that the mightiest piece of Chess is actually the lowly Pawn.  What a paradox, in weakness there is great strength that moves mountains and kings.

If you put a pawn (protected by another piece) to attack an opponents piece, the latter always has to retreat. Because it's simply not worth exchanging pieces to take your pawn as it is such low value.

So those good players are really the ones who know the power of manipulating the weak pieces.  Doesn't that ring a bell in the parallel and real world of politics?

Internet Chess Games

I recommend http://www.freechess.org/ or chess.net which gives the full instructions for getting started.  In the old days i played like 20,000 games over a period of 3 years but i ever since they started to charge a fee, i had stopped playing totally.  You can also chat with anyone on the server by typing TELL xxx on the command line interface. Make instant friends across the world!. If you beat a player with low score your points goes up marginally.  Conversely if you beat a player with high score your score shoots up much higher.