A video clip of Saudi Arabia’s top cleric saying that the game of chess is “forbidden” in Islam because it wastes time and leads to rivalry and enmity among people has provoked heated debate, and widespread criticism, among Arabic Twitter users.
The clip was shared on YouTube in December, gaining traction in recent days on social media. Some Twitter users mocked Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz Al Sheikh, saying chess is an intelligent game and that is why conservative clerics decry it. Others defended his religious advice, saying that many other Islamic scholars have also warned that the game can be addictive and cause people to lose focus from their daily prayers and remembrance of God.
Saudi Arabia’s influential religious establishment adheres to a strict Sunni Islamic ideology known widely as Wahhabism.

I rest my case.

They hate the game because the queen has more freedom and power than the king.That's classic!

They choose to bury their heads in the sand like the ostrich.

Beware, chess players! Now you're on the Boko Haram target list!

Where does he get his weed from?

First and foremost the title is misleading since it is a statement of the opinion of a twitter user not the cleric whose opinion states it should be banned because it could cause enmity and lack of focus.

Now that remains his opinion which doesn't note the huge role Islam played in the development of chess.

Chess was passed onto Europe from the muslim world which was adopted on conquering the Persians

The king of the old game was a king, like our king, and had the same move. No change there in over 13 centuries. The rook was called "rukh" which meant "chariot." It's interesting that we maintain essentially the same word in English, although the meaning of "rook" or "rukh" has long been lost to us. The ancient rook also had exactly the same move as our modern rook.

http://ancientchess.com/page/01.htm

ancient muslims chess piece


recent chess piece at a chess whatever in UAE


^^^
the above almost made some Islamophobe to cry blue murder