For me, chess requires a level of focus and time management unlike anything else (Go is the same, but I learned chess). There are no motor skills required, unli

For me, chess requires a level of focus and time management unlike anything else (Go is the same, but I learned chess). There are no motor skills required, unlike most video games or a musical instrument. As an adult learning the first time, it is frustrating because it is so much harder than for a kid. But then so is music and foreign language. From another angle, there is a huge amount of research on chess as a model of cognition. Because chess rating is quite objective, you can measure things like speed of learning, increase in skill with age, followed by decline of skill with age, the effects of alcohol and other drugs, diet, sleep. And, of course, it is a completely classic and ongoing topic of ai research and decision theory. If you are interested in those topics, having some insight into the game is also useful.