The Sheikh of Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about someone who plays chess, saying that it is better than games of dice – is this correct? And is it forbidden to play chess for money or not for money? What do the scholars say about this? And he replied: Praise be to Allah! Playing chess is forbidden according to general consensus of the scholars of the ummah and its imams, as is playing games of dice. It is attested authentically from the Prophet (may Allah pray over him and salute him), that He said: "Anyone who plays games of dice – it’s as if he dunked his hand in the flesh of pigs and their blood." And He said: "Anyone who plays games of dice has disobeyed Allah and his Messenger." It is affirmed from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he passed by some people playing chess, and he said: What are these statues that you all are so engaged with?! [Al-anbiya 52]. And it is narrated that he flipped over the board on them.
A party of the salaf said: Chess is a kind of gambling; and it is as they said, for indeed Allah prohibited gambling, and scholars are unanimous that it is forbidden to play games of dice or chess, if it is for money, and this is the kind of game of chance and gambling that Allah prohibited. Games of dice are forbidden according to the Four Imams, whether it is done for money or not for money, although some of the companions of Al-Shafi’i made it permissible if not for money, reasoning that in this case it would not be gambling. So then Al-Shafi’i, his companions in general, and Ahmad, and Abu Hanifa, and the rest of the imams, prohibit it for money as well as not for money. Similarly, these Imams declared chess to be forbidden: Malik, Abu Hanifa, Ahmad, and others. But they disputed over which was more serious; Malik and others said that chess is worse than games of dice, while Ahmad and others said that chess is less severe than games of dice. For this reason Al-Shafi’i wavered regarding games of dice if they were free of forbidden things, since the reason for the ambiguity in this case is that most people who play them do so for money, in contrast to chess, which in most cases is not played for money. Moreover, some of them held the notion that playing chess was an aid to warfare, because of how it has two sides lined up.