What countries is it illegal to play chess

Saudi Arabia and Antarctica only as far as I know

11 years late but afghanistan due to taliban issues

as far as i can tell the so called ban on chess in certain countries are simply fatwas. fatwas are certain rulings done by a religious judge or some other religious authority figure in interpreting islamic law but these often do not have the weight of law as we know it in the west. Depending on how strict the society, fatwas can be anything from morally frowned upon but not strictly illegal to enforced by law. Usually, the more strict conservative the islam the closer to the latter.
Whats silly though is that the level of ignorance these so called authority figures have on modern issues can be pretty funny. The main justification agaisnt chess as fatwas is that it encourages gambling but even a rudimentary understanding of the modern game reveals how stupid a reason that is. competing for cash prizes is not gambling but even if it was, they could have simply banned gambling over the result of sports and other competitive endeavors and left the activities alone or even just remove prizes.