favorite thing in chess

i love the complexity of chess, and checkmating with pawns and bishops even though its kinda rare

Well i 'd say that the best thing about chess as a game for me is that at the beginning of the game thing are equal, no-one has an advantage unlike other sports. (eg in basketball the taller player has an advantage before the game starts).

In a chess game i like to outplay my opponent, you know don't let him have any counter play and then slowly convert any small advantage that i have :)

My favorite thing about chess is it's myriad of openings that I can explore, memorize, and use. There's no game with more variety than chess. :-)

@apostolis1: Things are no more equal in that regard in chess than they are in basketball. White has won more than black throughout the history of the game, it's untrue to suggest neither side starts with an advantage.

We all know that the statistics slightly favor white, but you have to admit that the winner of a chess game is he who played better.

The fact that, prior to the first move being made, I could even defeat Kasparov in a game.
Big deal, right?, others have done it before me and he's an imperfect, biological being prone to occasionally make mistakes, just like me. The chance for that outcome is slim, yet absolutely real. It only depends on me, and me alone, what I make out of this chance, and that blows my mind.

My favorite thing in chess is ANTICHESS--sorta oxymoron-ish, but, nevertheless, true

^^same here... i love anti :D
in regular chess... i love it when I find a plan that works and lets me win the game... << the only reason that's my favorite thing is because it happens super rarely :P

@Chessty_McBiggins

I think that Dionysus_god and rise_UIED have already explained my point :)

The winner of a game of chess is the one who played better in exactly the same way that the winner of a game of basketball is the team that played better. Better in basketball means scoring more points, and better in chess means checkmating your opponent's king or forcing a resignation. That both sides start with an equal chance is, in any empirical sense, not true, and in the philosophical sense that you are claiming, I disagree whole heartedly that basketball or any other sport is any different.