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One could say the same thing about any human endeavor: sports, athletics, art, literature, entertainment...if anything is not essential to our existence, one could argue it is just a waste of time. All we really need to exist is food, water, shelter, and good pussy, so you could argue that any human activity not directly related to these pursuits is pointless. If you don't argue this way for those pursuits, why single out chess? If nothing else, one of the biggest contributions abstract strategy games like chess have made to humanity is in the field of computer science. Deep Blue, computing engines, complex algorithms and rule sets, artificial intelligence, and now neural networks like AlphaZero, have all been furthered and advanced by chess. Games were crucial inspirations and stepping stones in the pursuit of AI. This technology can now be leveraged into other areas, like more energy-efficient shipping and logistics, or targeted drug delivery for diseases. Maybe chess is a key component in the next revolution for humanity? But what would I know. It's only a game, amirite?
