No Chess in Saudi Arabia?
A couple of readers (Marc Beishon and Ross Hytnen) alerted me to the news that chess has been proscribed in Saudi Arabia, on the grounds that the game is "a waste of time" and "encourages gambling". (I'm inclined to joke that for some readers those are features rather than bugs - but I digress.) Further, the clerical ban claims that chess "causes enmity and hatred between people". (One might wonder if this is something that the Saudi leaders have a problem with in any general way, but perhaps the response is that they're worried about discord arising among Sunni Muslims.)
Of course, there are benefits to playing chess as well: it's (generally) a safe way to channel one's competitive instincts, and helps kids in particular (but adults too) in their cognitive development. It can be a source of aesthetic pleasure, and as entertainments go chess is about as harmless an activity as can be. Alas, the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia disagrees.
What does this mean for Saudi chess players? Some sources have referred to this as a total ban on the game in that country, but it seems to be a religious rather than a legal proscription. That noted, Saudi Arabia is a theocracy, so I'm not sure how much room there is in between the religious and the legal. Perhaps it means that it's forbidden to Sunni Muslims, but anyone else can play?
Reader Comments (3)
The story about Saudi banning chess, either legally or religiously, is basically fabricated and based on a single false tweet by Nigel Short, later corrected.
What is truly remarkable is that one after another, newspapers (and bloggers) wrote about some old (maybe very old) comments by the Grand Mufti as if they were news and only Short bothered to correct the record. (At least Stephen Moss, in the second article by the English Guardian on the subject, pointed out how old the comments were.)
It's a sign that (a) media felt that if others were reporting it, they shouldn't miss out, and (b) it fits with the current narrative of condemning Saudi Arabia/Islam.
[DM: Can you supply a link to the correction? I'd be happy to post that. As for condemning Islam, plenty of officially Muslim countries permit the game, and chess is thriving in some of them, including Iran - certainly not a country that is loved by the secular West, politically speaking.]
I think calling the story fabricated is over stepping the case by a lot.
In the first article it states it is not only a 2 year old comment but that it is not legally enforced and that other edicts of this kind are largely ignored. In that sense, the article seems perfectly clear and so I find the prior comment's angst quite dubious. In fact, since Nigel is still posting about it, it's hard to call what he posted a correction as it were.
Here is Nigel Shorts "correction" which has been fully stated in the very first source Dennis posted.:
Nigel Short @nigelshortchess Jan 21 Correction: the fatwa against #chess by the highest religious figure in Saudi Arabia is not new. Nor has it yet translated into a ban.
Here is the actual fatwa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-nPfGBTdM4&feature=youtu.be
And finally, historically, muslim theocrats have banned chess in the past so it's not like the story is just prima facie nonsense since it isn't even unusual to ban chess apparently. Here is one well known example. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/21/chess-forbidden-in-islam-rules-saudi-arabia-grand-mufti
The Saudi chess federation has a letter posted to fide: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/9374-letter-from-saudi-chess-association.html
It doesn't differ much from the source material. It's illegal when they say so but currently, they claim chess is expanding in the scholastic sphere so I assume we are to infer this no direct or indirect enforcement against chess.