A brief history of chess

國(guó)際象棋簡(jiǎn)史

來(lái)源視頻

The attacking infantry advances steadily,

their elephants already having ?broken the defensive line.

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

Escape is impossible.

But this isn’t a real war-

nor is it just a game.

進(jìn)攻步兵正穩(wěn)步推進(jìn)，

他們的大象已攻破敵人的防線(xiàn)。

國(guó)王試圖撤退， 但敵方騎兵已從后方包抄，

逃跑是不可能的了。

但這不是真正的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)——

也不僅僅是一場(chǎng)游戲。

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

chess has been known as a tool ?of military strategy,

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

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

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

在其存在的大約一千五百年中，

國(guó)際象棋被稱(chēng)為軍事戰(zhàn)略工具、

對(duì)人類(lèi)事務(wù)的隱喻 和天才的衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

雖然對(duì)國(guó)際象棋的 最早記錄是在?7?世紀(jì)，

而傳說(shuō)中游戲的起源 還要早一個(gè)世紀(jì)。

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

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

Set on the x ashtapada board used for other popular pastimes,

a new game emerged with two key features:

different rules for moving ?different types of pieces,

and a single king piece whose fate ?determined the outcome.

據(jù)說(shuō)，當(dāng)古普塔帝國(guó) 最年輕的王子在戰(zhàn)斗中喪生時(shí)，

為向悲傷的母親講述王子犧牲的場(chǎng)景， 他的兄弟就設(shè)計(jì)了這種方式。

一款使用 x 的八條棋盤(pán)的 娛樂(lè)用新游戲面世了，

它有兩個(gè)主要特點(diǎn)：

不同類(lèi)型棋子有不同的移動(dòng)規(guī)則，

王者棋子的命運(yùn)將決定勝負(fù)。

The game was originally ?known as chaturanga–

a Sanskrit word for "four divisions."

But with its spread to Sassanid Persia,

it acquired its current name ?and terminology–

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

or “the king is helpless.”

該游戲最初被稱(chēng)為“恰圖蘭卡”——

梵語(yǔ)中的意思是“四部”。

但它傳播到薩珊王朝的波斯后，

就獲得了現(xiàn)在的名稱(chēng)和術(shù)語(yǔ)——

“國(guó)際象棋”源自“shah”，意思是國(guó)王，

而“將軍”來(lái)自“shah mat”， 意思是“國(guó)王孤立無(wú)援”。

After the 7th century Islamic conquest ?of Persia,

chess was introduced to the Arab world.

Transcending its role as a ?tactical simulation,

it eventually became a rich source ?of poetic imagery.

Diplomats and courtiers used chess terms ?to describe political power.

Ruling caliphs became avid ?players themselves.

七世紀(jì)伊斯蘭征服波斯之后，

國(guó)際象棋被引入阿拉伯世界，

并逐漸超越其作為戰(zhàn)術(shù)模擬的作用，

成為詩(shī)歌意象的豐富來(lái)源。

外交官和朝臣們使用 國(guó)際象棋術(shù)語(yǔ)來(lái)描述政治權(quán)力，

執(zhí)政的回教主們也成了狂熱的玩家。

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

compared to games of chance.

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

where many local variants developed.

歷史學(xué)家艾馬斯迪認(rèn)為， 與機(jī)會(huì)博弈相比，

國(guó)際象棋是人類(lèi)自由意志的證明。

沿絲綢之路，中世紀(jì)貿(mào)易 將國(guó)際象棋帶到了東亞和東南亞，

并衍生了許多本地版本。

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

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

The reign of Mongol leader Tamerlane saw ?an x board

with safe squares called citadels.

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

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

在中國(guó)，就像本土戰(zhàn)略游戲圍棋一樣，

國(guó)際象棋棋子下在棋盤(pán)交叉點(diǎn)， 而不是下在格子內(nèi)；

而蒙古征服者帖木兒統(tǒng)治時(shí)期，

x 的棋盤(pán)上帶有 叫做大本營(yíng)的安全島；

在日本的將棋中， 對(duì)手可以使用被俘的棋子。

但在歐洲，國(guó)際象棋 開(kāi)始采用其現(xiàn)代形式

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

Chess was used as an allegory

for different social classes performing ?their proper roles,

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

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

Moralists cautioned against devoting ?too much time to them,

with chess even being briefly ?banned in France.

到公元?1000?年，游戲 已成為宮廷教育的一部分。

國(guó)際象棋被用來(lái)

比喻履行各自職責(zé)的不同社會(huì)階層，

并且在新的背景下， 棋子功能被重新定義。

與此同時(shí)，教會(huì)仍對(duì)游戲持懷疑態(tài)度。

道德主義者告誡 不要花太多時(shí)間玩游戲，

國(guó)際象棋甚至在法國(guó)被短暫禁止。

Yet the game proliferated,

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

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

perhaps inspired by the recent surge ?of strong female leaders.

This change accelerated the game’s pace,

and as other rules were popularized,

treatises analyzing common openings ?and endgames appeared.?

Chess theory was born.

然而，這款游戲迅速傳播，

在?15?世紀(jì)，它演變成 我們今天所知的游戲形式。

相對(duì)較弱的顧問(wèn) 被重塑為更強(qiáng)大的女王——

也許受近期強(qiáng)勢(shì)女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的啟發(fā)。

這種變化加快了游戲的節(jié)奏，

并隨著其它規(guī)則的普及，

出現(xiàn)了分析常見(jiàn) 游戲開(kāi)局和結(jié)束的論文。

由此，誕生了國(guó)際象棋理論。

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

Chess was now seen as an expression ?of creativity,

encouraging bold moves and dramatic plays.

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

where Adolf Anderssen managed a checkmate

after sacrificing his queen ?and both rooks.

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

meant that strategic calculation would ?eventually trump dramatic flair.

隨著啟蒙時(shí)代的到來(lái)， 游戲從宮廷搬到了咖啡館。

國(guó)際象棋現(xiàn)在被視為創(chuàng)造力的表達(dá)，

鼓勵(lì)大膽的舉動(dòng)和戲劇性的下法。

這種“浪漫”風(fēng)格在 1851?年的 “不朽對(duì)局”中達(dá)到了頂峰，

比賽中，阿道夫·安德森 在犧牲了女王和兩只車(chē)后，

成功把對(duì)手將死。

但 19?世紀(jì)后期正式競(jìng)爭(zhēng)游戲的出現(xiàn)，

意味著戰(zhàn)略考慮最終 會(huì)戰(zhàn)勝戲劇性的天賦。

And with the rise of international ?competition,

chess took on a new ?geopolitical importance.

During the Cold War,

the Soviet Union devoted great resources to cultivating chess talent,

dominating the championships for the rest ?of the century.

But the player who would truly upset ?Russian dominance

was not a citizen of another country

but an IBM computer called Deep Blue.

隨著國(guó)際競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的興起，

國(guó)際象棋有了新的地緣政治重要性。

在冷戰(zhàn)期間，

蘇聯(lián)投入了大量資源培養(yǎng)國(guó)際象棋人才，

并通攬?jiān)撌兰o(jì)剩余時(shí)間里的冠軍。

但真正打破俄羅斯統(tǒng)治地位的玩家

不是另一個(gè)國(guó)家的公民，

而是名為“深藍(lán)”的 IBM 計(jì)算機(jī)。

Chess-playing computers had been ?developed for decades,

but Deep Blue’s triumph ?over Garry Kasparov in 1997

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

Today, chess software is capable of ?consistently defeating

the best human players.

But just like the game they’ve mastered,

these machines are products ?of human ingenuity.

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

國(guó)際象棋游戲計(jì)算機(jī)已開(kāi)發(fā)了幾十年，

但 1997?年，“深藍(lán)”戰(zhàn)勝加里·卡斯巴羅夫

是機(jī)器第一次擊敗當(dāng)代冠軍。

如今，國(guó)際象棋軟件

能夠輕松擊敗最優(yōu)秀的人類(lèi)玩家。

但就像它們掌握的游戲一樣，

這些機(jī)器是人類(lèi)聰明才智的產(chǎn)物。

也許同樣的人類(lèi)聰明才智， 將引導(dǎo)我們走出這個(gè)明顯的死局。