The Taliban have banned chess in Afghanistan, citing religious reasons, adding the game to a long list of pastimes and activities that are prohibited across the country.
Citing fears that the game is a source of gambling, Taliban officials said it will be suspended indefinitely until it’s determined how compatible chess is with Islamic law, the BBC reports.
The move to ban chess is just the latest in an ever-growing list of restrictions to cultural, social and sporting events dictated by the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Ministry since the hardline, Islamist Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Restrictions on once-commonplace activities have been particularly directed at women, barring them from public spaces, education and jobs.
Atal Mashwani, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Sports Directorate, told TOLO News that chess has been suspended “due to leadership issues within the national chess federation and religious concerns surrounding the game.”
He said chess in Sharia or Islamic law is considered “a means of gambling.”
The Afghanistan Chess Federation has also been dissolved as part of the ban.
One cafe owner in Kabul, who hosts regular amateur chess competitions but says gambling is never involved, told the BBC he would suspend the tournaments but that it would hurt his bottom line.
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“Young people don’t have a lot of activities these days, so many came here every day,” Azizullah Gulzada told the outlet.
“They would have a cup of tea and challenge their friends to a game of chess.”
He also noted to the AFP that “many other Islamic countries have players on an international level.”
The move to ban chess comes just months after the Taliban banned free fighting, such as mixed martial arts, saying it was not aligned with sharia (Islamic law) and was too “violent.” The banning of MMA followed a 2021 law that prohibited “face-punching.”
Last October, the Taliban issued a decree that prohibits women from praying aloud or reciting the Qur’an in each other’s presence. Two months earlier, in August 2024, they issued laws making it mandatory for women to veil their entire bodies, including their faces, at all times in public. Women were also forbidden from singing, reciting and reading aloud in public, as a woman’s voice is deemed “intimate” and should not be heard.
Women are already excluded from education after sixth grade, many public spaces and most jobs. They are also prohibited from looking at men they are not related to by blood or marriage.
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