英语音频杂志：木制小军队

 　　1500 years ago. A king in India named Kaid, who had built a huge empire, was sick at heart. He called his minister, Sassa, to him and said : “Day and night I think about my past battles, I dream of conquests and invasions, I can’t sleep for thinking about imaginary wars and victories. But I have no more enemies, and it is a sin to make war without cause. What can I do to regain¹ my peace of mind?”

　　The minister thought of a game which he had learnt from a Greek soldier. He taught the rules to the king, who found the game so engrossing², such a perfect substitute for war, that he was a happy man again. He asked Sassa :

　　“How can I reward you? Gold? Jewels? Perhaps you want to marry one of my daughters? Choose anything you like.” But Sassa said :

　　“Take a grain of rice and place it on the first square of the board. Put two grains on the second square. Keep going, doubling the number of grains each time, until you have covered all the 64 squares on the board.”

　　At first they laughed at Sassa for his modesty³ and simplicity⁴. But then they discovered that the rice would exceed all the wealth in the known world.

　　A mysteryThe game, if you haven’t guessed, was chess. It’s interesting that in all the various legends of chess’s origins the game is always said to come from somewhere else. Chess has a number of known ancestors– the four-player Indian game Chaturanga among them – but its ultimate place and date of birth are still a mystery. India, China, Persia, Greece? Nobody knows.

　　What is definitely true in the story is the point Sassa was making with his rice. Chess is pretty much infinite. We don’t know the number of possible games even today, when a supercomputer can beat the World Champion. There’s an Indian proverb: “Chess is a lake in which a mosquito can bathe - and an elephant can drown”.

　　Children like to command a little wooden army, and even adults like to play Napoleon. That’s how they get started. Later, players realize the technical complexity⁵ and finally, they see the game’s awesome⁶ artistic⁷ beauty. It’s a unique combination of war game, sport, science and art.

　　A mirror of historyIn its long journey around the world, chess has borrowed from the cultures that took it in. The West plays with bishops⁸, knights⁹ and queens, because they were powerful people in medieval Europe when chess became popular. But in the East, including Russia, these pieces are named the elephant, horse and ferz (minister), as in Indian Chaturanga.

　　Chess moved west but it also moved East, and its Eastern versions - Chinese Xaing-pi and Japanese Shigo – also reflect history. In Shigo, some of the pieces can even change sides, like mercenary soldiers in the age of the Samurai.

　　The players, too, reflect the spirit of their times. Anatoly Karpov, who dominated the game in the 1970s, played Cold War chess - Iron Curtain chess. He was slow and defensive¹⁰ but almost impossible to beat. Garry Kasparov took the title from him in 1985, on the eve of great changes in the USSR. He played Gorbachev chess, perestroika chess. Radical¹¹ solutions to problems, and risky¹² moves with unpredictable results. His style was like a breath of fresh air.

　　An extreme sport?In my passion for chess, I’m in good company. Charlemagne, King Henry II, Napoleon, Tolstoy, Rousseau, Nabokov and Che Guevara. Chess players all.

　　The French artist Marcel Duchamps took his obsession¹³ further. He took three years off from art to become a chess master, and played for France in the Chess Olympiad. He was prouder of his chess mastery than all his artistic achievements.

　　With all these kings, artists and writers playing chess, you might get the idea that chess is the ultimate civilized¹⁴ pursuit. But you’d be wrong.

　　A Scandinavian manuscript, 900 years old, tells of how one player, who lost a game, picked up the board and smashed his opponent on the head with it. Boards were made of stone in those days. Ouch.

　　Grandmasters have called it “a blood sport”, “like a fight to the death with broken bottles” and “very dangerous – you have to kill people.”

　　If you agree with the old saying that life is too short for chess, play blitz chess. Five minutes on the clock. Non-players think chess is slow and boring, but blitz is a high adrenaline sport. And as aggressive as any martial¹⁵ art. In parks in Russia, where they gather in summer to play blitz, the players don’t just take pieces, they knock them off the board onto the ground. And in the classic game, even world championship players have been known to kick each other under the table.

　　From the boxing ring to the chess boardWith all this aggression¹⁶, and the stories of nervous breakdowns¹⁷ among chess players, it’s worth remembering that chess can heal as well as harm. My own favourite chess story is that of John Healy. His autobiography¹⁸, The Grass Arena¹⁹, was made into a great film by the BBC. Healy was a failed boxer²⁰ who became the most serious kind of alcoholic²¹. He became homeless. The bottle nearly killed him. But in prison, he discovered chess, and managed to give up drinking completely. He is now a successful chess player, journalist and writer.

　　Healy is played in the film by the British actor Mark Rylance. It’s the performance of a lifetime – chess makes surprisingly good cinema. There is a moving scene where Healy tries to find the words to describe how his life has changed. “It’s like boxing again…but not with fists… with the mind.” King Kaid, fighting his imaginary battles, would surely have recognized him.

1 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

2 engrossing   

adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He told us an engrossing story. 他给我们讲了一个引人入胜的故事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It might soon have ripened into that engrossing feeling. 很快便会发展成那种压倒一切的感情的。 来自辞典例句

3 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

4 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

5 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

6 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

7 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

8 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

9 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

10 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

11 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

12 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

13 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

14 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

15 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

16 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

17 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

18 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

19 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

20 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

21 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。