In card games, or games that involve dice, there is an obvious luck factor.
Is there any luck to chess?
I say no.
Chess involves no luck at all. If I am winning the whole game, but fail to see a mate or blunder, then I wasn't "unlucky", I simply failed to see the mate or blunder.
The game we are playing has nothing to do with luck.
what kind of stupid ass question is this?
I'll take that as a "no".
The post is meant to solidify the notion that chess involves 0 luck.
Any game you lose, you lost because of yourself. Your opponent did not get "lucky".
To say "good luck" to an opponent really means "you better hope I'm not paying attention".
Your opponent being a moron isn't luck. The only arguable luck comes from the color of piece you start with, and on this site, you can decide even that.
Here is luck:
1. Winning a game, but your computer lags and you run out of time. Unlucky.
2. You make a pre-move, and your opponent played a stupid blunder that you could have capitalized on if you hadn't pre-moved a normal move. Unlucky.
3. You play an opponent who is using an engine. Unlucky.
All of these examples only apply to online chess, to be fair. The game itself involves no luck. Piece color means almost nothing, since humans very, very rarely have perfect play.
Yes
#6: I think there's slightly less luck involved in your second point. When you pre-move, you're taking some degree of risk in that you assume your move will be the move you would have made anyway.
If your opponent blunders during one of your pre-moves, then I think a bit of the fault goes towards the pre-mover.
Games of chance can involve skill (ex: poker). Games of skill can involve chance (ex: Risk). Chess has no randomizing element, such as dice or coin flips, therefore it is entirely a game of skill. (Randomizing the choice of starting pieces would not be a randomizing element, to clarify. Because white is shown to have a slight advantage at the 0 position, it is simply a way to make the competition fair through some decided upon manner of arranging starting color selection).
So, to answer your direct question, no, there is no luck. But I hazard that we all knew that going into this conversation.
To answer your actual (implied) question, though ('Why do players wish each other luck at the start of a game?') I also sometimes find it odd when people wish someone 'good luck' before a game of skill that has no element of chance. However, this is called sportsmanship.
People in sports matches often wish the other team good luck. Luck doesn't necessarily have to mean the game involves chance. Wishing someone good luck can mean simply, 'may no unseen forces hinder your ability to play at your best'.
As a linguistic side note, in Japanese, the phrase used in any case where English speakers would generally say 'good luck' is 'ganbatte' which literally means 'try hard!' or 'do your best!' and I think that's what people are actually telling you if they wish you 'good luck' before a chess match.
If your opponent has a heart attack during the game, that's pretty unlucky for him. He'll probably lose on time, too.