Chess is perhaps just one gigantic algorithm. With each piece obeying their own rules all entwined in one game with a main objective, perhaps the difference between chess and a program is that a person plays chess, not a computer. Well, until 1996, anyways. It's been around since the 7th Century and yet continues to grip the attention of millions across the globe.
I suppose the main thing I enjoy about chess is that there are simply so many different ways how a game can unfold. Already before you and your opponent have moved, there are twenty possible openings to a match (sixteen by pawns and four by knights). Indeed, the Shannon Number (after mathematician Claude Shannon) estimated the total possible chess matches to be at 10^120. That is greater than a googol (10^100), the number of atoms in the universe (10^80), the number of ways you can rearrange a deck of cards (52!)
For such a relatively simple game (each piece has its own limitations when moving, and they interact with each other), that is rather alarming. And 10^120 is the lower bound! And an estimate! Yes, different, perhaps more accurate, bounds have been made since, but hey - 10^120 sounds cool, and sounds better in a conversation, even if it's not as accurate.
Obviously, chess isn't the only game that is so interesting by how it operates - it's not the only abstract strategy game, where each piece has its limitations that you are in control of: Go, checkers, mancala...
But is is certainly one of the most interesting games to ever be devised in its simplicity and complexity.
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