Another small triumph for the people of Afghanistan: they can play chess again.
When the Taliban caught Haji Shirullah, a Kabul businessman, playing chess in his office with his brother they burnt the chessboard and the pieces. “They put us in jail for two days,” he recalled with a rueful smile. “The Taliban believed chess was a form of gambling and distracted people from saying their prayers.”
Chess has always been a popular passtime in Afghanistan, and it looks to be coming back out of the woodwork — a hastily arranged chess tournament in Kabul drew far more players than had been expected.
(Via InstaPundit)
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