Using "folks" is perfectly fine with most English speakers, although you mostly hear it from politicians in order to sound more humble than they really are. It's also very popular as a greeting in the Southeastern United States (along with "Hey ya'll"). It might seem odd if you're in a big city, in which case you could use "guys" instead. Anyway, to answer your question, I would say you could easily just ask this: "Is chess as hard as it seems?" The rest of it isn't really needed, as you've already expressed what you're trying to figure out. If you want to get a more in-depth answer about WHY chess is difficult, you could use these: "Why do people say chess is so difficult?" "What makes chess so hard to learn?" "Why is it so hard to master chess?"