Boxing is HARAM
So is chess. On forums I join I always list my hobbies as 'Boxing & Chess'.
Backgammon is haram, chess is makruh. The hadiths about chess are forgeries; the prohibition comes from the alleged narrations of things the sahaba said after Islam spread to Persia... and you know, only allah and his messenger are supposed to make things haram. But luckily for us, the scholar-gods have intervened to cover up for their fellow scholar-frauds and do what they always do (make things haram which quran and sunnah say nothing about), by saying that chess is makruh because it is a distraction from big al and pondering how great and wonderful he is. also, umar didn't like it.
fuck umar.
Foot racing is another sport / game mentioned in the hadiths.
Here are some fun things about Islam & sport:
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1978&CATE=142 - read this before you dare to have fun, because your half hour of relaxation could put you in the fiery pits of an eternal hellfire. And remember - Islam is PEACE!
http://islamqa.com/en/ref/14095/chess (this one uses the word "dice" but the hadith there refer to backgammon)
http://islamqa.com/en/ref/40527/sports it's okay to be in sport as long as your intention is to glorify allah and do shit for muslims. otherwise, it's bad.
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=2439&CATE=34 when young muslim men engage in the horseplay and rough housing that is normal and common among young men all over the world, this is something to be discouraged and squashed. But remember, kids - Islam isn't against fun!
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=2289&CATE=13 backgammon - it's just like dipping your hands in pigs' blood!
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=3034&CATE=115 islam says to cut off the heads of your kid's football trophies (if you must keep them at all). that's how we inculcate love of islam and the integration of islam into our american / british identities.
Don't you guys, uh, totally miss the baraka of Islam in your daily life?