[lit-ideas] Re: Rhetoric and reality on Iran

More rhetoric and reality -- why Khomenei and the Taliban goons banned chess in their regimes:
Which is the rhetoric or reality? Chess wasn't banned in Iran. Gambling over chess games was banned, but not chess. I remember that particular bit of uproar. Ayatollah Khomeini himself approved of chess.
Which is hardly likely anyway: Persia invented chess. Ever heard of the Shah of Iran? Shah, as in Schach? As in chess? The word chess comes from the word shah, which means emperor. The game of emperors.
Chess was invented in Persia. It moved both to western Europe and to China and Japan. In Japan, they play chess, but it's somewhat different from Western chess. Shogi is much more complex. I had a Japanese roommate at Heidelberg and learned to play the game. 

yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com 
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