Chess banned in Afghanistan due to gambling and religious considerations. >https://www.khaama.com/chess-banned-in-afghanistan-due-to-religious-restrictions/
Paul S Person wrote:
On Mon, 19 May 2025 17:50:24 +1200, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:
Chess banned in Afghanistan due to gambling and religious considerations. >>> https://www.khaama.com/chess-banned-in-afghanistan-due-to-religious-restrictions/
That's very strange, as chess itself may well have come to Europe via
Islam (from India, IIRC). You would think it was firmly traditional.
You would think so, but there's a long history of religious
"authorities" calling for the banning of chess, both in Christianity and >Islam.
Mainly because chess distracts people from the Proper Duty of Man: Beat
up unbelievers, pay the church, pray, have children and raise them in
the faith, beat up unbelievers, and so on.
No room for games in that.
Very early versions of chess are said to have involved dice (I'm not
sure if this is generally accepted but chess with dice does exist) and
if so early bans, circa 600 or so, may have been part of a larger ban on >gambling.
Graham wrote:
On 21/05/2025 22:30, William Hyde wrote:
Graham wrote:
Or they could ask Anne's daughter Elizabeth or stepdaughter Mary.
Eleanor of Aquitaine was cited, though she died more than a century
before the change. Might as well cite Empress Maud or Theodora.
As far as I can tell none of the others were generally accepted as reigning monarchs in their own right. This, again as far as I can tell,
was a new thing for England at that point.
That's true, and this of course is what got John Knox's knickers so thoroughly in a twist - though Maud ruled at least part of the country
and claimed the whole thing.
But female rulers, while scarce in Europe, were not unknown.
There is a horror story (for chess players) in which an unknown solves
the game, proving a win for white in 23 moves. He is stabbed in the
back by a chess master, who uses a large ornate bishop from a
demonstration set.
On Mon, 19 May 2025 17:50:24 +1200, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:
Chess banned in Afghanistan due to gambling and religious considerations. >>https://www.khaama.com/chess-banned-in-afghanistan-due-to-religious-restrictions/
That's very strange, as chess itself may well have come to Europe via
Islam (from India, IIRC). You would think it was firmly traditional.
It occurred to me last night that, since the most powerful piece is
the Queen, chess could be banned as woke or as DEI.
There is some "scholarly" writing which claims that the increase in the
power of the queen from the weakest to strongest piece reflected an
increase in women's rights about 1400-1500. Very DEI.
But perhaps they could ask Anne Boleyn or Catherine Howard about that.
On Tue, 20 May 2025 15:43:09 -0400, William Hyde
<wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
It occurred to me last night that, since the most powerful piece is
the Queen, chess could be banned as woke or as DEI.
There is some "scholarly" writing which claims that the increase in the >>power of the queen from the weakest to strongest piece reflected an >>increase in women's rights about 1400-1500. Very DEI.
But perhaps they could ask Anne Boleyn or Catherine Howard about that.
About the only place Chess was played in Europe in the mid 15th
century was in Constantinople
though the fall of Constantinope in 1453
was critical to the spread of Chess in Europe - meaning that in time
time of Henry VIII Chess was still a bit of a novelty in Europe.
About the only place Chess was played in Europe in the mid 15th
century was in Constantinople
The Arab game was played in Spain for centuries before the changes that
made modern chess.
There are records of chess being played in Northern Europe almost back
to 1200 AD. The Lewis chessmen are dated to before 1200.
That's very strange, as chess itself may well have come to Europe via
Islam (from India, IIRC). You would think it was firmly traditional.
You would think so, but there's a long history of religious
"authorities" calling for the banning of chess, both in Christianity and
Islam.
Oh, indeed. And some of that history is recounted in one of the
most famous histories of the game of Chess, "A History of Chess"
by H. J. R. Murray.
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