Is it haram to play chess?

The classical view

Most of the classical schools (Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali) considered chess forbidden or strongly disliked. The Shafi'i school considered it disliked rather than forbidden, under conditions. Their concerns were practical: in their time, chess was often played for money, for hours on end, and at the expense of prayer.

Some scholars also compared it to a dice game the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ condemned. He said: "He who played nardashir is like one who dyed his hand with the flesh and blood of swine" (Sahih Muslim 2260). Nardashir was a game similar to backgammon.

The contemporary view

Many scholars today distinguish chess from nardashir: nardashir depends on the luck of the dice, while chess is pure skill and strategy. They see it like other permitted games and sports, with real benefits for focus and thinking, so they allow it under clear conditions.

Conditions everyone agrees on

• No betting. Playing for money turns it into gambling, which the Quran forbids (Quran 5:90).
• No missed prayers. Pause the game when it's time to pray.
• No cursing or fights over a lost match.
• Not an obsession. Hours every day at the cost of family, work or study crosses the line.

The Prophet ﷺ reminded us that free time is a blessing many people waste (Sahih al-Bukhari 6412). The same principles apply to other games, see Can I still play video games as a Muslim?

What about online chess and tournaments?

Online chess follows the same rules. Tournaments with an entry fee where the prize comes from players' fees can resemble gambling, so many scholars advise caution there. Free tournaments, or prizes from sponsors, are generally seen as fine.

What about other board games? Word and strategy games like Scrabble are generally seen as fine. Games that rely heavily on dice are more debated because of the nardashir hadith, so some families prefer to avoid them.