Oh come on....it's this exact attitude of riding our high horse that we all display at times that turns away newcomers from the genre and i'm not singling anyone out in particular here...i've been guilty of the same thing in the past until i realized we're shutting ourselves out from possibly bringing "new blood" into the hobby, even the limited number of people who would actually be interested in trying their hand at it.
It's no shame to call it game. Saying it's a game doesn't mean it can't be intellectually challenging or teach you stuff, don't you think?
For example rolling dice is a game, then chess is a game too...one is pure luck, the other involves some thinking to actually be good at to be the point it can be considered a sport.
In fact, even games that are based on luck can be made challenging and be considered mental sports if the rules are complex enough, for example the difference between simple games of cards and complicated ones like poker, where you can win by other means despite being unlucky and drawing the worst hand. Or in another case, pen and paper role playing games...they too use dice (albeit up to 20-sided ones) but the rules make sure it's not all about luck.
However, people still say "let's play a round of chess" just like they say "let's play a round of cards" and nobody takes offence, you hardly see anyone saying "let's stimulate our analytical mental faculties and intellect with a round of simulated, turn-based, movement restricted warfare with wooden soldier pieces"
