He is right again, chess is religion. But in many ways, it is better than mainstream religion. To wit...
In religion there is the issue of paying homage to a holy script of some sort. In chess, the holy script is algebraic notation. Much simpler. Instead of worrying about what actually happened to whom at what time when, and vexing over the historical accuracy of scripture, in chess we simply consult the Move List. And lo, the Move List never lies...
In the beginning was e4, and e4 was with God, and e4 was God. And so it came to pass, that after e4 was played c5, and c5 begat Nf3, and Nf3 begat d6, and d6 begat d4, and so forth...
You see the beauty? Internal logical consistency, and clarity about what really happened. No need to supplicate captured bishops in heaven or black knights on the Other Side to make sure we appease them sufficiently to gain their favour. No need for false idols....
As for sacrificial rites, what need of any scapegoat to cast lots and thus free the denizens of the village of their collective guilt? We instead need only throw away a piece in a sacrificial exchange to fulfill our bloody cravings. Better to sac in chess than to sac some poor knave at the alter of the gods!
And let us turn to the issue of pawn promotions....as they transform from mere plebian to stately Goddess, they undertake for us any need to imagine ourselves morphing into some supernatural figure at the moment of our passing, or even to evoke Thomas a Kempis' "Imitation of Christ" via the resurrection of pawn to Deity as it hits the 8th rank. Better to sac a knight and usher a pawn to make a queen than to concern ourselves with sacrifice and rebirth in accordance with dusty dogma. And indeed, the urge to reincarnate is satisfied as well via the promotion of mere foot soldier into la Dame...
Concerns of immortality, so central to religion, are consumed within the logic of chess as we realize that no matter how many times we lose, we live yet again to play another day, and no matter how many blunders we commit, the pieces reappear miraculously in our next game in their starting positions as if they were never harmed, captured, or killed ever at all...
Then there is the eternal battle of the polarities...light and dark, good and evil, male and female, yin and yang, Eagles and Patriots...to this ancient dance chess is ever addressing itself. When assuming the position at the board, one is no longer one's superficial identity, one is Black, or one is White, that is, one is completely identified with the side one is playing. And in so doing, as one plays enough games in one's life one gets to play both sides of the cosmic show, and so comes to see ultimately through the illusion of duality into the understanding that we are all merely playing a role on this stage of drama written by an idiot...
And then there is the king, sitting like the Buddha himself, all squat and limited in ability to be mobile, but utterly aware of his infinite importance. What need to topple the Buddha and see him bounce back up when one can topple one's king? And so turn the wheel of dharma and live to play another day...