Iran is a outlier in the islamic world with regards to chess. A fiercely independent country, with a fine tradition in the sciences, sports and culture.
Its no surprise that iran is a emerging power in chess , football , space exploration, etc since its a confident and independent country.
Culture is more important than religion for the direction a country takes.
Bangladesh with its attachment to its culture rather than religion, also does ok in chess.
Turkey also has a quite a few GMs , about 15.
The trend is unmistakable. More the country is religious, the lesser the attraction to logic based activities.
India with its tradition of giving importance to education , is obviously a leader in chess. We won the chess olympiad a month back . Joint winners with Russia.
Its no surprise that iran is a emerging power in chess , football , space exploration, etc since its a confident and independent country.
Culture is more important than religion for the direction a country takes.
Bangladesh with its attachment to its culture rather than religion, also does ok in chess.
Turkey also has a quite a few GMs , about 15.
The trend is unmistakable. More the country is religious, the lesser the attraction to logic based activities.
India with its tradition of giving importance to education , is obviously a leader in chess. We won the chess olympiad a month back . Joint winners with Russia.