What is the difference between 'as' and 'like'?

[New_user.]

The fighting troops are led on the chessboard, as in real life, by the king.

I know that the above sentence is correct. Would there be any difference in meaning if I used like instead of as? would it be grammatically correct?

[oomniman]

I'm sure there's some fancy smancy english professor in a stuffy old university broom closet that was converted into an office who has a 10 page answer for this, but I'm just gonna put in a simpler way. I love run on sentences. :)

The fighting troops are led on the chessboard by the king just like in real life.

This would be a proper use of the word like....however if you want to know the truth....people in real life use both words whether it's correct or not.

[Conchita]