I just came back from my trip to UAE (United Arab Emirates) and would like to share 1 interesting observation with you.
Although there are not many professional chess players in Arabic countries, a lot of people enjoy this game. I mean they really ENJOY it.
People gather in a café, play chess, drink tea or coffee, and sometimes smoke shisha

(it’s smoking equipment where smoke goes through the water). It looks like this:
This creates a really pleasant atmosphere: you play chess, communicate with your friends and have fun.