I think the “why”s of chess are also about game design—just about decisions that could have gone various other ways. Go is certainly more elegant; chess has more character: these are essentially opposites, since each arbitrary-but-reasonable rule added is a loss for elegance and a win (potentially) for character. (a rule that introduces more symmetry than it breaks goes in the other direction—but such rules don’t feel arbitrary)
I think the “why”s of chess are also about game design—just about decisions that could have gone various other ways. Go is certainly more elegant; chess has more character: these are essentially opposites, since each arbitrary-but-reasonable rule added is a loss for elegance and a win (potentially) for character.
(a rule that introduces more symmetry than it breaks goes in the other direction—but such rules don’t feel arbitrary)