A brief history of chess - Alex Gendler

翻译人员: Carol Wang 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

The attacking infantry advances steadily,

进攻步兵正稳步推进，

their elephants already having broken the defensive line.

他们的大象已攻破敌人的防线。

The king tries to retreat, but enemy cavalry flanks him from the rear.

国王试图撤退， 但敌方骑兵已从后方包抄，

Escape is impossible.

逃跑是不可能的了。

But this isn’t a real war–

但这不是真正的战争——

nor is it just a game.

也不仅仅是一场游戏。

Over the roughly one-and-a-half millennia of its existence,

在其存在的大约一千五百年中，

chess has been known as a tool of military strategy,

国际象棋被称为军事战略工具、

a metaphor for human affairs, and a benchmark of genius.

对人类事务的隐喻 和天才的衡量标准。

While our earliest records of chess are in the 7th century,

虽然对国际象棋的 最早记录是在 7 世纪，

legend tells that the game’s origins lie a century earlier.

而传说中游戏的起源 还要早一个世纪。

Supposedly, when the youngest prince of the Gupta Empire was killed in battle,

据说，当古普塔帝国 最年轻的王子在战斗中丧生时，

his brother devised a way of representing the scene to their grieving mother.

为向悲伤的母亲讲述王子牺牲的场景， 他的兄弟就设计了这种方式。

Set on the 8x8 ashtapada board used for other popular pastimes,

一款使用 8x8 的八条棋盘的 娱乐用新游戏面世了，

a new game emerged with two key features:

它有两个主要特点：

different rules for moving different types of pieces,

不同类型棋子有不同的移动规则，

and a single king piece whose fate determined the outcome.

王者棋子的命运将决定胜负。

The game was originally known as chaturanga–

该游戏最初被称为“恰图兰卡”——

a Sanskrit word for "four divisions."

梵语中的意思是“四部”。

But with its spread to Sassanid Persia,

但它传播到萨珊王朝的波斯后，

it acquired its current name and terminology–

就获得了现在的名称和术语——

"chess," derived from "shah," meaning king, and “checkmate” from "shah mat,"

“国际象棋”源自“shah”，意思是国王，

而“将军”来自“shah mat”， 意思是“国王孤立无援”。

or “the king is helpless.”

After the 7th century Islamic conquest of Persia,

七世纪伊斯兰征服波斯之后，

chess was introduced to the Arab world.

国际象棋被引入阿拉伯世界，

Transcending its role as a tactical simulation,

并逐渐超越其作为战术模拟的作用，

it eventually became a rich source of poetic imagery.

成为诗歌意象的丰富来源。

Diplomats and courtiers used chess terms to describe political power.

外交官和朝臣们使用 国际象棋术语来描述政治权力，

Ruling caliphs became avid players themselves.

执政的回教主们也成了狂热的玩家。

And historian al-Mas’udi considered the game a testament to human free will

历史学家艾马斯迪认为， 与机会博弈相比，

compared to games of chance.

国际象棋是人类自由意志的证明。

Medieval trade along the Silk Road carried the game to East and Southeast Asia,

沿丝绸之路，中世纪贸易 将国际象棋带到了东亚和东南亚，

where many local variants developed.

并衍生了许多本地版本。

In China, chess pieces were placed at intersections of board squares

在中国，就像本土战略游戏围棋一样，

rather than inside them, as in the native strategy game Go.

国际象棋棋子下在棋盘交叉点， 而不是下在格子内；

The reign of Mongol leader Tamerlane saw an 11x10 board

而蒙古征服者帖木儿统治时期，

11x10 的棋盘上带有 叫做大本营的安全岛；

with safe squares called citadels.

And in Japanese shogi, captured pieces could be used by the opposing player.

在日本的将棋中， 对手可以使用被俘的棋子。

But it was in Europe that chess began to take on its modern form.

但在欧洲，国际象棋 开始采用其现代形式。

By 1000 AD, the game had become part of courtly education.

到公元 1000 年，游戏 已成为宫廷教育的一部分。

Chess was used as an allegory

国际象棋被用来

for different social classes performing their proper roles,

比喻履行各自职责的不同社会阶层，

and the pieces were re-interpreted in their new context.

并且在新的背景下， 棋子功能被重新定义。

At the same time, the Church remained suspicious of games.

与此同时，教会仍对游戏持怀疑态度。

Moralists cautioned against devoting too much time to them,

道德主义者告诫 不要花太多时间玩游戏，

with chess even being briefly banned in France.

国际象棋甚至在法国被短暂禁止。

Yet the game proliferated,

然而，这款游戏迅速传播，

and the 15th century saw it cohering into the form we know today.

在 15 世纪，它演变成 我们今天所知的游戏形式。

The relatively weak piece of advisor was recast as the more powerful queen–

相对较弱的顾问 被重塑为更强大的女王——

perhaps inspired by the recent surge of strong female leaders.

也许受近期强势女性领导人的启发。

This change accelerated the game’s pace,

这种变化加快了游戏的节奏，

and as other rules were popularized,

并随着其它规则的普及，

treatises analyzing common openings and endgames appeared.

出现了分析常见 游戏开局和结束的论文。

Chess theory was born.

由此，诞生了国际象棋理论。

With the Enlightenment era, the game moved from royal courts to coffeehouses.

随着启蒙时代的到来， 游戏从宫廷搬到了咖啡馆。

Chess was now seen as an expression of creativity,

国际象棋现在被视为创造力的表达，

encouraging bold moves and dramatic plays.

鼓励大胆的举动和戏剧性的下法。

This "Romantic" style reached its peak in the Immortal Game of 1851,

这种“浪漫”风格在 1851 年的 “不朽对局”中达到了顶峰，

where Adolf Anderssen managed a checkmate

比赛中，阿道夫·安德森 在牺牲了女王和两只车后，

after sacrificing his queen and both rooks.

成功把对手将死。

But the emergence of formal competitive play in the late 19th century

但 19 世纪后期正式竞争游戏的出现，

meant that strategic calculation would eventually trump dramatic flair.

意味着战略考虑最终 会战胜戏剧性的天赋。

And with the rise of international competition,

随着国际竞争的兴起，

chess took on a new geopolitical importance.

国际象棋有了新的地缘政治重要性。

During the Cold War,

在冷战期间，

the Soviet Union devoted great resources to cultivating chess talent,

苏联投入了大量资源培养国际象棋人才，

dominating the championships for the rest of the century.

并通揽该世纪剩余时间里的冠军。

But the player who would truly upset Russian dominance

但真正打破俄罗斯统治地位的玩家

was not a citizen of another country

不是另一个国家的公民，

but an IBM computer called Deep Blue.

而是名为“深蓝”的 IBM 计算机。

Chess-playing computers had been developed for decades,

国际象棋游戏计算机已开发了几十年，

but Deep Blue’s triumph over Garry Kasparov in 1997

但 1997 年， “深蓝”战胜加里·卡斯巴罗夫

was the first time a machine had defeated a sitting champion.

是机器第一次击败当代冠军。

Today, chess software is capable of consistently defeating

如今，国际象棋软件

能够轻松击败最优秀的人类玩家。

the best human players.

But just like the game they’ve mastered,

但就像它们掌握的游戏一样，

these machines are products of human ingenuity.

这些机器是人类聪明才智的产物。

And perhaps that same ingenuity will guide us out of this apparent checkmate.

也许同样的人类聪明才智， 将引导我们走出这个明显的死局。