The Taliban has banned a lot of things ... but chess? (www.npr.org)
from Pro@programming.dev to world@lemmy.world on 17 Jun 20:26
https://programming.dev/post/32398643

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blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 17 Jun 20:41 next collapse

Queen is the most powerful piece on the board and they don’t like that?

nogooduser@lemmy.world on 17 Jun 20:49 next collapse

That’s easy to fix… new rules where the king and queen swap roles. Although that would mean protecting a woman above the men so maybe not.

GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip on 17 Jun 20:57 next collapse

They could just use random names that conform to their beliefs.

otp@sh.itjust.works on 17 Jun 21:24 collapse

The woman barely has freedom of movement except once in her life and only by chauffeur.

The woman is never actually captured. The game ends when her capture is imminent.

The goal of the game is to kidnap someone else’s wife.

Seems Taliban-friendly!

CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org on 18 Jun 03:19 collapse

Actually, a piece that only moves or moves differently in the presence of another sounds like it could be interesting.

otp@sh.itjust.works on 18 Jun 04:01 collapse

Castling

CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org on 18 Jun 14:57 collapse

Lol, that’s a good point.

dfense@lemmy.world on 18 Jun 04:53 collapse

Last time this came up, I learned that the piece we in the west call queen (you guys in English anyway, in German its Dame (meaning Lady)) is actually called Vesir/Consultant in that region. I think Wikipedia has a list per language, quite interesting.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip on 18 Jun 13:08 collapse

Wazir (Vesir in some languages) is a king’s advisor. Consultant doesn’t really fit. The role’s more like a medieval chancellor.

qisope@lemmy.world on 17 Jun 21:09 next collapse

butt chess?

harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Jun 07:27 collapse

They’ve been cracking down on it.

catloaf@lemm.ee on 17 Jun 21:17 next collapse

It’s global and egalitarian, so it’s banned.

palordrolap@fedia.io on 17 Jun 21:29 next collapse

The given reason is that it enables gambling. Presumably they'll also be banning the other sports and games that are mentioned in the article, including those deeply beloved of whoever it is setting these rules.

If not, we can safely assume that the ban is probably because it's something that might get the ordinary folk thinking for themselves, and that won't do. Can't be having the proles thinking for themselves, let alone practising an approximation of military strategy.

Alternatively, the top brass can't get their heads around chess and they're jealous that other people can, so therefore they ban it. (For this one, I cite myself. I'm so bad at chess that I can lose any game from a winning position by playing the moves I genuinely think are best, so I'm kind of jealous of anyone without this amazing anti-power. That doesn't necessarily mean I'd ban it, but if I was running a country, maybe that'd go to my head and I would.)

phutatorius@lemmy.zip on 18 Jun 13:09 collapse

And let’s not forget that it encourages thought, which terrifies religious conservatives.

jordanlund@lemmy.world on 17 Jun 22:46 next collapse

I could see chess being a problem for the Taliban a couple of different ways…

First, as in the article, gambling.

“Buh, buh, chess isn’t gambling!” Tell that to any number of street chess hustlers in the US, and there are LOTS of them.

chess.com/…/i-flew-to-new-york-to-play-hustlers

Second, graven images. The Taliban takes that seriously, to the point of blowing up Buddha statues.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip on 18 Jun 13:10 collapse

In stricter Muslim countries, the chess pieces are more abstract-looking. That’s not really the issue.

The real issue is that they hate anything that makes life enjoyable.

grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world on 17 Jun 23:07 next collapse

Only infidels think more than one move ahead!

RedditIsDeddit@lemmy.world on 18 Jun 01:57 next collapse

they are not known for their intelligence

CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org on 18 Jun 03:18 next collapse

Some of those queens have awfully provocative curves. /s

napkin2020@sh.itjust.works on 18 Jun 07:54 next collapse

All while raping 12 year old girls are totally fine.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip on 18 Jun 13:05 collapse

And boys.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip on 18 Jun 13:04 next collapse

The Taliban are ultra-reactionary religious conservatives. In other words, scum.

Anything that looks like a good time, they ban. Though they still rape boys for fun, since that’s just Pashtu culture.

nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 18 Jun 15:19 collapse

religion is poison