Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
In the article, Zakat is for Individuals, & Reliable Scholarship, it mentions the ruling regarding playing Chess, that it is Makruh Tahrimi. Is this the stronger Hanafi opinion or the only hanafi opinion?
Walaikum assalam,
This is the relied upon opinion in the Hanafi school, as mentioned by Ibn Abidin in his Hashiya, and Khalil al-Nahlawi in his Durar al-Mubaha fi’l Hadhr wa’l Ibaha.
The position of Abu Yusuf, it should be noted, is not that chess is merely permissible. He, like Imam al-Shafi`i after him, placed several stringent conditions that are rarely met by those who habitually play chess.
Wassalam,
Faraz.