Talibans are banning chess because they consider that the game encourages bets, which contradicts Islamic law. The decision is being criticized by supporters of the sport.
Talibans have an unexpected new target in their long list of prohibitions and limitations in Afghanistan: the chess. The Islamic group has imposed restrictions that have left players demoralized and fearful.
The most recent case took place in Herat, where Ahmad Sami Hassanzadeh, a former chess coach, was beaten in a public park while playing with friends. Agents of the so -called “Police of Morality” – belonging to the ministry to promote virtue and prevention of addiction – destroyed the trays and chess pieces and assaulted two of their companions. “We were told that playing chess is forbidden. Until seeing is prohibited”Hassanzadeh reported.
Although the ban was officially released only in May, the signs of its application have been felt for months. Customs authorities had Started to block books and plaid sets Imported from Iran and Pakistan, and the National Chess Federation has been dissolved in the meantime. Women were particularly affected early on – prevented from attending clubs and teaching chess classes since the resumption of power by the Talibans in 2021.
A chess player, who asked for anonymity for fear of reprisals, told him that he once gave classes to women and girls. “Not only did the community support, but also encouraged us,” he recalled. “All this has changed. We continue to Practice at home and onlinebut it’s not the same thing. Women feel frustrated. ”
The Talibans justify the prohibition based on religious arguments, stating that the chess It is a form of betting. Sports Minister Atal Mashwani said the game will remain suspended until “religious issues” are resolved. Ghulam Ali Malikzad, former president of the now defunct Afghan chess federation and currently exiled in Germany, considers the definitive suspension: “When the talibans make a decision, they don’t go back.”
This is not the first time chess has been prohibited in the country. During the first regime of the Taliban (1996-2001), the game was equally banned. Only after the regime’s fall with US intervention in 2001 did the chess be allowed again. Similar situations occurred in other countries – Iran, for example, also banned the chess after the 1979 revolutionalthough it has legalized it later, with specific conditions.
The international chess community has criticized the decision. Nigel Short of the International Chess Federation, regretted Afghanistan’s isolation and said he had hope of a reversal of order. “There are dozens of Muslim countries with active chess federations,” he recalls.
For players like Hassanzadeh, however, hope fades. “We grew up with the chess. It’s in our blood. Forbidding it is like pulling a piece of my heart, ”he argues.
Iranian player Dorsa Derakhshani, now exiled in the US for refusing to wear a veil in tournaments, is not surprised: “It is the classic manual of a dictatorship. Chess teaches you to think critically – and the dictators don’t want to thinkers. ”
