The Elegance of the Game of Chess (as well as a couple others)

After hauling some lumber today for my friend's father, I sat down and played some chess with both the father and son. Its elegance after manual labor was absolutely refreshing. Though I lost both times, it most certainly was a very gentlemanly game of wit and sport. The amount of planning ahead required really gets each player to think deeply about their actions and the possible repercussions of these actions. It's engaging and completely absorbed all of my attention, diverting my worries to the back part of my brain: my only concern was checkmating my opponent, maneuvering my warriors with elegance to eliminate those posed against them.
Playing styles reflect the personalities of the players themselves. I've met many a man who trumps with knights, maneuvering them around the battlefield with grace. Yet there are twice as many than that who employ the more powerful double-rook (castle) combination to devastate their opponents. Personally, I find rooks to be a last resort and a strong line of defense.
Metagame in chess is also important. The air a chess player gives off can make him a respected, intelligent man, or a conceited intellectual there simply to show of his prowess and the fact that he's better than you. I experienced this firsthand myself today when my friend was constantly jabbering about how one of us was going to lose or win. It was greatly distracting from the game, and made it just a little bit less fun...compare that to my experience with his father, who was completely silent, stoic, throughout the entirety of the game I played against him. When he looked me in the eyes, shook my hand, and said 'good game', I felt he truly meant it, and I came to respect him just that much more.