Short answer
In the Hanafi school playing chess is makruh tahrimi (close to haram), and with betting it is fully haram. The Maliki and Hanbali schools also prohibit it. The Shafi'i school allows it with conditions: no money, no delayed prayers, no foul language and no excess. Backgammon and similar dice games are haram in all four schools.
Playing chess is makruh tahrimi. With gambling, or when it causes a missed or delayed prayer, it is haram. Backgammon (nard) and games of chance with dice are haram.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Chess is makruh (disliked) but not haram, as long as there is no gambling, no delayed prayer, no obscene speech and it does not become a habit.
- Maliki
- Chess is prohibited. Imam Malik counted it with backgammon.
- Hanbali
- Chess is haram, even without gambling.
Explanation
No authentic hadith names chess directly. The hadith that is authentic is about nard (backgammon): the Prophet ﷺ said that whoever plays it is like one who dips his hand in pig's flesh and blood. In another narration he said that whoever plays it has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger. The scholars then judged chess by comparison with nard and by its usual effects.
The Hanafi scholars saw chess as a game that absorbs the mind for hours, often delays prayers, and leads to quarrels and sometimes betting. Several early Muslims spoke against it. For these reasons the Hanafi books call it makruh tahrimi, a degree just short of haram that a Muslim must avoid. The Shafi'i school saw some mental benefit in it and only disliked it, with strict conditions.
What this means for you:
- Online chess, chess apps and chess clubs fall under the same ruling. A Hanafi should avoid them.
- Any form of stake, prize pool you pay into, or bet makes it haram in every school.
- Many Hanafi muftis apply the backgammon ruling to dice games such as ludo.
- Board games of pure skill without dice or images, played briefly with family, are lighter, but the same caution about time and prayer applies.
If you follow a Shafi'i scholar, you may play within his conditions. Do not look down on Muslims who follow that view, and do not let a game take the place of the prayer.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:90
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩٠﴾
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
Gambling is a defilement from Shaytan, so any game with a stake is haram.
Sahih Muslim 2260
Sahih... من لعب بالنردشير فكأنما صبغ يده في لحم خنزير ودمه ...
"Whoever plays nardashir is like one who dips his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig."
Backgammon is forbidden, and chess is judged by comparison with it.
Sunan Abi Dawud 4938
Graded hasan... من لعب بالنرد فقد عصى الله ورسوله ...
"Whoever plays nard has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger."
Games of this kind are sinful.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Karahiyya. Playing chess and backgammon is disliked, and gambling on them is forbidden.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Hazr wa al-Ibaha, discussion of games. Explains the ruling on chess, backgammon and other games.
- Minhaj al-Talibin (Nawawi), Kitab al-Shahadat. The Shafi'i position that chess is makruh, not haram.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.