CAMPAIGN AGAINST TERRORISM: The Taliban Watched Their Every Move, but Chess-Loving Afghans Survived to Play Again

Beginning of article

WHEN THE Taliban caught Haji Shirullah, a Kabul businessman, playing chess in his office with his brother they burnt the chessboard and the pieces. "They put us in jail for two days," he recalled with a rueful smile. "The Taliban believed chess was a form of gambling and distracted people from saying their prayers."

Mr Shirullah, a middle-aged man in a white skull cap, was waiting impatiently to start playing in the first chess tournament held in Kabul since the Taliban captured the city in 1996. Some 138 players had turned up - far more than expected - so some were using the floor because there were not enough tables and chairs.

For five years, Afghanistan has …