Bayhaqi 20922 — The disagreement about playing chess

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "And since they, meaning the people of desires (innovators), are like this (acceptable in testimony), then the one who plays chess, even though we dislike it for him, and the one who plays with pigeons, even though we dislike it for him, is in a lighter state than these people by a degree that can be neither counted nor estimated."
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said this because in this (issue of chess) too there is a difference of opinion among the scholars.

Rabi' bin Sulayman (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I heard Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) saying: Sa'id bin Jubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) used to play chess from behind his back (without looking at the board), and he would say: "With what did he move such-and-such?" He would say: "With such-and-such." He would say: "Move with such-and-such."