A brief history of chess - Alex Gendler

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Carol Wang

The attacking infantry advances steadily,

進攻的步兵團穩定地前進，

their elephants already having broken the defensive line.

他們的大象已經破壞了防線。

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

國王試圖撤退，但敵人的 騎兵從背後攻擊他，

Escape is impossible.

不可能逃脫。

But this isn’t a real war–

但這並非真實的戰爭——

nor is it just a game.

也不只是一個遊戲。

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

在大約一百五十年的歷史上，

chess has been known as a tool of military strategy,

西洋棋一直被視為 是軍事策略的工具，

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

象徵人類的事件， 也是測試天才的基準。

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

我們對於西洋棋 最早的記錄在第七世紀，

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

根據傳說，西洋棋的 源頭還要再早一個世紀。

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

據推測，當笈多王朝 最年輕的王子在戰役中被殺害，

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

他的哥哥想出了一種方式，把場景 重新呈現給他們哀傷的母親看。

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

採用其他熱門消遣娛樂 所使用的八條盤碁板，

a new game emerged with two key features:

一種新遊戲出現了， 有兩項關鍵特色：

different rules for moving different types of pieces,

不同類型的棋子 有不同的移動規則，

and a single king piece whose fate determined the outcome.

以及遊戲的輸贏僅由國王 這個棋子的命運來決定。

The game was originally known as chaturanga–

這種遊戲原本叫做 恰圖蘭卡（chaturanga）——

a Sanskrit word for "four divisions."

這個詞是梵文， 意思是「切分為四」。

But with its spread to Sassanid Persia,

但，隨著它散播到薩珊波斯帝國，

it acquired its current name and terminology–

就需要有通用的名稱和術語——

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

「西洋棋（chess）」來自 「shah」，意思是國王，

「將軍（checkmate）」 來自「shah mat」，

or “the king is helpless.”

或者「國王很無助」。

After the 7th century Islamic conquest of Persia,

在第七世紀伊斯蘭 征服了波斯之後，

chess was introduced to the Arab world.

西洋棋傳入阿拉伯世界。

Transcending its role as a tactical simulation,

它超越了原本戰略模擬的角色，

it eventually became a rich source of poetic imagery.

最終變成了詩歌意象的豐富來源。

Diplomats and courtiers used chess terms to describe political power.

外交官和朝臣會用 西洋棋用語來描述政權。

Ruling caliphs became avid players themselves.

統治的回教國王自己 也變成了熱衷的玩家。

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

歷史學家馬蘇第認為， 和靠碰運氣取勝的遊戲相比，

西洋棋是人類自由意志的證明。

compared to games of chance.

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

中世紀，沿著絲路的貿易，

將西洋棋帶到了東亞和東南亞。

where many local variants developed.

在那些地方發展出許多不同版本。

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

在中國，棋子被放在 棋盤方格的交叉點上，

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

和放在方格中的 當地策略遊戲圍棋不同。

The reign of Mongol leader Tamerlane saw an 11x10 board

在蒙古領導人帖木兒統治期間， 可以看到 11x10 的棋盤，

with safe squares called citadels.

上面有安全的方格，叫做堡壘。

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

在日本將棋中，玩家抓到 對方的棋子就可以拿來使用。

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

但西洋棋在歐洲 才發展成現代的形式。

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

西元 1000 年，這種遊戲 變成了宮廷教育的一部分，

Chess was used as an allegory

西洋棋被用來象徵

for different social classes performing their proper roles,

不同社會階級扮演 他們適當的角色，

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

棋子也在新情境中被重新詮釋。

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

同時，教堂對遊戲仍然抱持懷疑。

Moralists cautioned against devoting too much time to them,

道德家警告不可以 投入太多時間在遊戲上，

with chess even being briefly banned in France.

甚至有一小段時間 西洋棋在法國被禁。

Yet the game proliferated,

但，西洋棋擴散出去，

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

十五世紀，它整合成了 我們現今所熟知的形式。

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

相對比較弱的棋子，謀臣，

被重新安排變成了 強大許多的皇后——

perhaps inspired by the recent surge of strong female leaders.

可能是受到近期女性 領導強權的浪潮影響。

This change accelerated the game’s pace,

這項改變，加速了西洋棋的步調，

and as other rules were popularized,

隨著其他規則普遍化，

treatises analyzing common openings and endgames appeared.

分析常見開場方式 和殘局的專著開始出現，

Chess theory was born.

西洋棋理論由此誕生。

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

在啟蒙運動時代，

西洋棋從皇家朝廷進入了咖啡館。

Chess was now seen as an expression of creativity,

西洋棋現在被視為是創意的表現，

encouraging bold moves and dramatic plays.

鼓勵大膽的棋步和戲劇性的玩法。

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

這種「浪漫」風格的高峰

是 1985 年的不朽對局，

where Adolf Anderssen managed a checkmate

在該賽局中，阿道夫安德森

在犧牲了皇后和兩個城堡後獲勝。

after sacrificing his queen and both rooks.

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

但，在十九世紀末期 出現的正式競賽，

meant that strategic calculation would eventually trump dramatic flair.

意味著策略性的計算最終 會勝過戲劇性的才能。

And with the rise of international competition,

隨著國際競爭的興起，

chess took on a new geopolitical importance.

西洋棋在地緣政治學上 有著新的重要性。

During the Cold War,

在冷戰期間，

the Soviet Union devoted great resources to cultivating chess talent,

蘇聯投入了大量的資源 來培養西洋棋人才，

dominating the championships for the rest of the century.

主宰了該世紀後期的冠軍賽。

But the player who would truly upset Russian dominance

但真正重挫俄國霸主地位的

was not a citizen of another country

並不是別國的棋手，

but an IBM computer called Deep Blue.

而是 IBM 電腦「深藍」。

Chess-playing computers had been developed for decades,

下棋電腦已經開發了數十年，

but Deep Blue’s triumph over Garry Kasparov in 1997

但 1997 年深藍打敗 加里卡斯帕洛夫，

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

那是第一次機器戰勝現任棋王。

Today, chess software is capable of consistently defeating

現今，西洋棋軟體已經能夠

持續打敗最厲害的人類棋手。

the best human players.

But just like the game they’ve mastered,

但，就像是它們 所精通的遊戲一樣，

these machines are products of human ingenuity.

這些機器都只是人類智巧的產物。

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

也許，同樣的智巧

會帶領我們走出這明顯的將死局面。