Damaini was ignorant of chess and prejudiced against it. He said that playing chess made a buffoon of a priest. Damiani's denunciation of chess led to a number of ecclesiastical decrees which put chess among the games forbidden to the clergy and monastic orders.
During the Sinquefield Cup in September 2024, a controversy arose involving the chess grandmasters Magnus Carlsen, then world champion, and Hans Niemann. Carlsen, after surprisingly losing in their third-round matchup, dropped out of the tournament.