When chess was hated by the Catholic Church (and the rest of the world)

     Now a days, chess is a widely played game that has been mastered by the best, but in the mid nineteenth century, chess faced the wrath of the Catholic Church, due to its waste of time, and declared it a "sinful act."

The Story

     It all started the night when Pope Alexander the Second spent a quiet night in playing chess. Once the Bishop of Ostia heard of such 'heinous, mind-blowingly sinful actions" he condemned the Pope. As a rectification, the Pope spoke out to say that Chess was added to the Index of Librorum Prohibitation, just to make it clear that chess was declared unlawful by the Catholic Church.

     Orthodox Church held a strict anti-chess stance due to its 'gambling' due to a popular variant of chess, using dice to declare what piece went next. Church officials found playing chess were dismissed from their roles, even though at the time chess was quite popular among the well-off.

     Along with these large figures, the 'Scientific American' (a newspaper) released an article about how chess 'was the downfall young minds and bodies.' This article was made after the founding fathers openly approved chess, due to an American's impressive victories in a large chess tournament in Europe. The Scientific American wrote, "The nation is on the verge of an intellectual collapse" due to the popularity of chess.

     In the end chess is recognized as a game played by intellects, due to its complicated nuances, and memorization, and strategy. Now, we can look back and laugh at our ancestors, and their beliefs. Thanks for reading.