Chess, the past and present of Islam: banned by the Taliban, and hosted by Saudi Arabia when the first WC was held.

Last week, the Taliban government in Afghanistan suspended chess on the grounds of “religious considerations” and justified the reason that chess might be a form of gambling. This is not the first time chess is suspended or banned in a country. It was banned during the first Taliban regime in 1996.

The ban on chess regularly is derived from different interpretations of the Islamic scriptures. These include concerns about gambling, potentially disturbing prayer discipline, symbols of decadence and the concept of wasted time. Ironically, Iran made world-class chess players, which was banned in 1979, and the ban was lifted in 1988.

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh announced chess “Haraam” in 2016, although it did not result in any ban in the country. In fact, chess will debut at the esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia from July to August this year.
When I first visited the Metropolitan Museum of New York in 2023, I was fascinated by seeing an almost complete chess set – 31 pieces with 1 missing pawn – from 12 c. Iran. Made of gypsum, probably handmade and made with turquoise green and manganese purple, the beautiful pieces are well preserved.

Their shapes themselves are interesting – “Sha” (king) are represented by a throne; “Wazir” (current queen, current queen) of the smaller throne; “FIL” (elephant, now bishop) has two prominent ends that indicate ivory. The “firas” (horse, now knight) has a small triangle protruding from the top of the circle, and the “rukh” (chariot, now rok) has a rectangular basewitha wedge-shaped V-shaped at the top.

The pawn is in the shape of a lantern or dome with a small knob on the top. Other chess in the Metropolitan Collection (mainly a single piece made of ivory and rock crystals) come from early years of the Islamic state. I was interested, digging out the history of chess and its origins, and learning that chess has a long history and profound legacy in the Islamic world. “Chaturanga” mentions four military departments, namely cavalry, cavalry, elephant and chariot, which evolve into modern chess pieces, knights, bishops and rooks. The game arrived in Persia in the sixth c. It evolved into “Shatranj”. The Persians modified some rules and standardized some parts. After the Arab conquest of Persia in 7 c, the game spread rapidly through the Arab world. Shatranj flourished in the Abbasid era between the 8th C-13 c. Caliphs, jurists, writers and intellectuals sponsored the game, expressing its connection to strategy and intelligence.

Harun al-Rasheed was the fifth caliph of the Abbotsid era, known as the great patron of Shatranj and actively promoted his adoption and role in his courts and empire. Some of the earliest papers on Shatranj strategy were written in this era. Al-Adli al-Rumi wrote “Kitab Ash-Shatranj” and Abu Bakr Bin Yahya al-Suli wrote “Kitab al-Shitranj”. Shatranj traveled with the Arabs to Al-Andalus (today’s southern Spain), from there spread to Europe, where he became chess, and went to America with European colonists.

Chess history is closely linked to the history of immigration and conquest. The game played by royals and the masses, chess is (not) gambling – in fact, it has precise thinking and wise predictive games, and the opposite is true. Of course (not) the symbol of decadence.

The writer is an international master of chess.