This is a load of nonsense!Mick Norris wrote:Are Chess and Islam Incompatible? article hereRoger de Coverly wrote:The Saudi chess federation is on record as saying that its activities including international tournaments will continue, despite religious disapproval.
The Muslim sect involved, Wahabism, is fundamentalist, on a par with the Wee Frees. The fatwa is on a par with the Wee Frees excommunicating (or whatever the technical term is for denying the communion) Lord Mackay of Clashfern (Lord Chancellor under the Thatcher and Major governments) for attending funeral services for Catholic colleagues. Pathetic!
I've played in competitions, league and individual, against and with Arab Muslims and I've arbited competitions with Muslims in them, adult and junior, and they are indistinguishable from normal chess players, because that's what they are!
The article makes the point that from the "normal" Islamic point of view chess is like pretty much like everything else non-religious, as long as it doesn't become an obsession it is fine.