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

國王極欲撤退，但敵人的騎兵已從背後包抄。

Escape is impossible.

逃離戰場已然無望。

But this isn't a real war, nor is it just a game.

但這不是真正的戰爭，也不只是一場遊戲。

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.

在 1500 多年的歷史中，西洋棋一直被視為軍事戰略的工具、人類事務的隱喻以及評定天賦的基準。

While our earliest records of chess are in the 7th century, legend tells that the game's origins lie a century earlier.

雖然關於西洋棋的記載最早出現於 7 世紀，但據說這個遊戲的起源在前一個世紀便已開始。

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.

據推測，當笈多王朝最年輕的王子在戰爭中身亡，他的兄弟發明了一種方法為他們悲痛的母親重現這個場景。

Set on the 8x8 ashtapada board used for other popular pastimes, a new game emerged with two key features.

在一款用於其他流行消遣的八條盤碁 8 乘 8 棋盤上，創造了新的遊戲，其有兩個關鍵特色。

Different rules for moving different types of pieces, and a single king piece whose fate determined the outcome.

不同種類的棋子有不同的移動規則，以及一個生死決定棋局結果的國王棋。

The game was originally known as chaturanga, a Sanskrit word for "four divisions".

這個遊戲原本的名稱為恰圖蘭卡，梵文意為「四肢/四部分」。

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 ".

但隨著恰圖蘭卡傳播至波斯第三帝國，薩珊王朝，便獲得了現今的專有名詞「chess」，源自「shah」，意思是國王，以及「checkmate (將死)」，源自「shah mat」，或指「國王已無能為力。」

After the 7th century Islamic conquest of Persia, chess was introduced to the Arab world.

7 世紀伊斯蘭教征服波斯後，西洋棋也傳入阿拉伯世界。

Transcending its role as a tactical simulation, it eventually became a rich source of poetic imagery.

西洋棋超越了戰術模擬角色的意義，最終成為詩歌意象的豐富來源。

Diplomats and courtiers used chess terms to describe political power.

外交官與朝臣用西洋棋術語形容政治權力。

Ruling caliphs became avid players themselves.

統治帝國的哈里發也成為狂熱的玩家。

And historian al-Mas'udi considered the game a testament to human free will compared to games of chance.

歷史學家馬蘇第認為相較於機率遊戲，西洋棋證明了人類的自由意志。

Medieval trade along the Silk Road carried the game to East and Southeast Asia, where many local variants developed.

中世紀的貿易順著絲路將西洋棋傳入東亞與東南亞，並發展成具地方特色的遊戲。

In China, chess pieces were placed at intersections of board squares rather than inside them, as in the native strategy game Go.

在中國，西洋棋的棋子放置在棋盤方格交叉處，而非方格內，如當地的策略遊戲，圍棋。

The reign of Mongol leader Tamerlane saw an 11x10 board with safe squares called citadels.

蒙古帝國帖木兒領袖時期可以看到 11 乘 10 的棋盤，再加上稱為堡壘的安全棋格。

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

而在日本將棋中，被擒獲的棋子可以為對方所用。

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

但西洋棋現今的模式源自於歐洲。

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

在西元 1000 年，西洋棋已經成為宮廷教育的一部分。

Chess was used as an allegory for different social classes performing their proper roles, and the pieces were re-interpreted in their new context.

西洋棋被用於不同社會階層履行其應有角色的寓意，而這些棋子在新的背景下被重新詮釋。

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

與此同時，教會對西洋棋仍舊存疑。

Moralists cautioned against devoting too much time to them, with chess even being briefly banned in France.

道德主義者告誡眾人不要花太多時間在西洋棋上，西洋棋甚至在法國短暫被禁止過。

Yet the game proliferated, and the 15th century saw it cohering into the form we know today.

然而西洋棋還是被發揚光大了，到 15 世紀時，西洋棋已演變成我們現今熟悉的形式。

The relatively weak piece of advisor was recast as the more powerful queen, perhaps inspired by the recent surge of strong female leaders.

相對較弱的顧問棋子被置換為更有權力的皇后，這或許是受到近代強勢女性領導者的啟發。

This change accelerated the game's pace, and as other rules were popularized, treatises analyzing common openings and endgames appeared.

這個變化加快了棋局的速度，而隨著其他規則普及化，分析常見棋局起手式與殘局的論文出現。

Chess theory was born.

西洋棋學說應運而生。

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

在啟蒙時代，西洋棋從皇室轉移至咖啡館。

Chess was now seen as an expression of creativity, encouraging bold moves and dramatic plays.

現在西洋棋被視為創造力的表現，並鼓勵大膽的手法與戲劇性的棋局。

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.

這種「浪漫」風格在西元 1851 年的不朽對局達到巔峰，在那場對局中阿道夫‧安德森在犧牲了皇后與兩個車後，完成「將死」。

But the emergence of formal competitive play in the late 19th century meant that strategic calculation would eventually trump dramatic flair.

但在 19 世紀晚期，正式競賽對局的出現意味著戰略算計最終將勝過戲劇性般的才能。

And with the rise of international competition, chess took on a new geopolitical importance.

隨著國際競賽的興起，西洋棋開始具有新的地緣政治重要性。

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union devoted great resources to cultivating chess talent, dominating the championships for the rest of the century.

冷戰時期中，蘇聯政府投入大量資源培育西洋棋好手，一掃在該世紀餘下時間的冠軍。

But the player who would truly upset Russian dominance was not a citizen of another country but an IBM computer called Deep Blue.

但是推翻俄羅斯統治地位的玩家並不是其他國家的公民，而是一台 IBM 的電腦，稱為深藍。

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.

下西洋棋的電腦已經開發數十年，但深藍在西元 1997 年擊敗加里‧卡斯帕洛夫，是首次有機器在人類手中獲得勝利。

Today, chess software is capable of consistently defeating the best human players.

如今，西洋棋軟體能夠持續擊敗最優秀的人類玩家。

But just like the game they've mastered, these machines are products of human ingenuity.

但就像他們專精的遊戲一樣，這些機器也是人類創造力的產物。

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

或許，這樣的創造力也會引導我們擺脫這顯而易見的將死。