By Kellen Browning

凯伦·布朗宁

On a recent afternoon, thousands of noncombatants watched from the sidelines as their general ordered his troops across the battlefield and became locked in a fierce duel with the enemy.

在最近的一个下午，成千上万的非战斗人员在场边观看，他们的将军命令他的部队穿越战场，与敌人展开激烈的决斗。

At one point, he berated himself for a tactical misstep that could have cost his side the high-stakes conflict. Then he smiled and began outmaneuvering his foe.

有一次，他为自己在战术上的失误而自责，这可能会使他的一方承担高风险的冲突。 然后他笑了，开始战胜敌人。

“I can’t lose,” Hikaru Nakamura, 32, said to the exultant onlookers. Victory seemed close as members of the opposing army were vanquished one by one. “I win again — there you go, guys. Wow.”

“我不能输，” 32岁的中村光(Hikaru Nakamura)对狂喜的围观者说。 对方军队被一一击败，胜利似乎已接近尾声。 “我又赢了，伙计们，你去了。 哇。”

Nakamura gave himself just a moment’s respite, then plunged into another fray. Pawns, knights, bishops and even kings fell before him as the chess grandmaster demolished a slate of online challengers, all while narrating the tide of the battle to tens of thousands of fans watching him stream live on Twitch, the Amazon-owned site where people usually broadcast themselves playing video games like Fortnite and Call of Duty.

中村给了自己片刻的喘息时间，然后陷入另一场争斗。 当国际象棋大师摧毁了一系列在线挑战者时，典当，骑士，主教甚至国王跌倒了他，同时向成千上万的粉丝讲述了这场战斗的浪潮，看着他在亚马逊拥有的网站Twitch上直播通常会通过玩《堡垒之夜》和《使命召唤》等电视游戏来播放自己的视频。

The coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders have crowned a host of unlikely winners catering to bored audiences. But watching livestreams of chess games? Could one of the world’s oldest and most cerebral games really rebrand itself as a lively enough pastime to capture the interest of the masses on Twitch?

冠状病毒大流行和全家可待订单使迎合无聊观众的许多不太可能的获胜者加冕。 但是，观看国际象棋直播吗？ 世界上最古老，最聪明的游戏之一是否真的可以重塑自己，成为一种活泼的消遣方式，以吸引大众对Twitch的兴趣？

Turns out, it already has.

事实证明，它已经存在。

Since the pandemic began, viewership of live chess games has soared. From March through August, people watched 41.2 million hours of chess on Twitch, four times as many hours as in the previous six months, according to analytics website SullyGnome. In June, an amateur chess tournament called PogChamps was briefly the top-viewed stream on Twitch, with 63,000 people watching at once, SullyGnome said. And popular Twitch gamers like Félix Lengyel (better known to his 3.3 million followers as “xQcOW”) have also recently started streaming chess.

自大流行开始以来，现场国际象棋比赛的观众人数猛增。 根据分析网站SullyGnome的数据，从3月到8月，人们在Twitch上观看了4,120万小时的国际象棋，是前六个月的四倍。 SullyGnome说 ，6月，一个名为PogChamps的业余象棋比赛短暂地成为了Twitch上观看次数最多的视频流，有63,000人同时观看。 最近流行的Twitch游戏玩家，例如FélixLengyel(他的330万追随者被称为“ xQcOW”)最近也开始播放国际象棋。

That collision of the chess audience and the general gamer audience has created a “giant chess bonfire,” said Marcus Graham, Twitch’s head of creator development.

Twitch的创作者开发负责人Marcus Graham说，国际象棋观众和一般游戏玩家的碰撞造成了“巨大的国际象棋篝火”。

The popularity of online chess has partly been fueled by Nakamura. Last month, one of the world’s top professional video game teams, Team SoloMid, beat several esports rivals to sign him to a six-figure contract so it could pair him with advertisers and merchandise. Nakamura was one of the first chess players to join an esports team, just a week after a different group signed a Canadian player, Qiyu Zhou.

在线象棋的普及部分是由中村推动的。 上个月，世界顶级专业视频游戏团队之一SoloMid击败了几个电子竞技对手，与他签下了六位数的合同，这样他就可以与广告商和商品配对。 中村是加入电竞团队的首批国际象棋棋手之一，就在另一个团体签下加拿大棋手周启宇之后一周。

Though Nakamura began streaming chess consistently on his Twitch channel, GMHikaru, in 2018, nearly all of his 528,000 followers have come aboard since the pandemic began. And as his popularity has skyrocketed, media attention has increased — including a cameo as himself on the television drama “Billions” in May.

尽管Nakamura于2018年开始在其Twitch频道GMHikaru上始终如一地播放国际象棋，但自大流行开始以来，他的528,000名追随者几乎都登上了棋盘 。 而且随着他的声望飙升， 媒体的关注度也增加了，包括5月在电视剧《十亿》 中饰演的一名客串 。

“It’s just amazing to see the level of support and the love that I’ve seen from the Twitch community,” Nakamura said. He added that the most appealing part of playing and streaming chess was simply “the fact that I’m so good at it.”

中村说：“看到我在Twitch社区中看到的支持和热爱，真是太神奇了。” 他补充说，下棋和串流棋最吸引人的部分仅仅是“我非常擅长这一事实。”

It helps that he has an unimpeachable chess pedigree. In 1998, at age 10, he became the youngest player in the United States to be named a master, a title earned through strong performances. Five years later, he became the youngest U.S. player to graduate to grandmaster, the highest title. He has since won five national championships.

他拥有无懈可击的国际象棋血统，这很有帮助。 1998年，他10岁那年成为美国最年轻的大师级球员，这是他凭借出色的表现而获得的头衔。 五年后 ，他成为美国最年轻的顶级大师毕业。 此后，他赢得了五次全国冠军。

On his Twitch channel, Nakamura, who lives in Los Angeles, rarely stops talking. His stream of commentary and chatter, even as he directs his pieces with the precision of an orchestra conductor, is one of the main reasons fans have flocked to him.

在他的Twitch频道上，住在洛杉矶的Nakamura很少停止说话。 即使他以管弦乐队指挥家般的精准指挥自己的作品，他的评论和chat不休的声音也是歌迷蜂拥他的主要原因之一。

“He draws people because he’s so good, but also, there are other top players on Twitch that are not as engaging as he is, not as funny, not as in tune with the sort of Twitch culture,” said Brandon Benton, 34, a postdoctoral physics researcher at Cornell University who watches Nakamura stream. He’s a “down-to-earth memer and jokester.”

“他之所以会吸引人们是因为他很出色，而且Twitch上还有其他顶级球员没有他本人那么引人入胜，没有那么有趣，也不像Twitch文化那样与时俱进，” 34岁的布兰登·本顿说康奈尔大学(Cornell University)的一名博士后物理学研究员，他在观看中村流。 他是个“脚踏实地的骗子”。

If you’re picturing a chess match as a drawn-out slog — well, you’re not wrong. A classical game without time limits can last five hours. But many online battles, including nearly all the games that Nakamura streams, are blitz chess. Each player has just a few minutes to complete all of his or her moves, leading to an aggressive, risky style of play that fans say is exhilarating to watch.

如果您将国际象棋比赛描绘为引人入胜的口号，那您肯定没有错。 没有时间限制的经典游戏可以持续五个小时。 但是许多在线战斗，包括中村流几乎所有的游戏，都是闪电战象棋。 每个球员只有几分钟的时间来完成他或她的所有动作，从而导致一种激进的，冒险的打法，球迷们认为这令人振奋。

A player’s timer stops only when it is the other person’s turn to move a piece, so planning ahead and making quick calls is vital to managing the clock. The climax often comes when mere seconds remain and the combatants exchange a rapid flurry of moves.

玩家的计时器仅在轮到他人移动棋子时才停止，因此提前计划和快速拨打电话对于管理时钟至关重要。 当仅剩下几秒钟，而战斗人员Swift交换动作时，高潮就来了。

In a recent stream, Nakamura had fewer pieces left than his opponent and just 20 seconds remaining. But 41 moves later, he was grinning after pulling off an improbable checkmate that involved charging a pawn across the board and hatching it into a queen. It had taken him just 16 seconds.

在最近的一次直播中，中村剩下的棋子比他的对手少，仅剩20秒。 但是41步之后，他扯下了一个不可能的将军，他将整个棋子都装进棋子并孵化成女王后露出了笑容。 他只花了16秒。

“More than anything, it’s the ability to play extremely high-level chess and win while I seemingly am not focused on the game and talking to my chat,” Nakamura said of his ability to draw a large audience, which he usually retains as he plays 20 or more games in one sitting. “At least at blitz chess, I’m probably the best or second-best player ever, in the entire history, at least online.”

中村说：“最重要的是，在我似乎并不专注于游戏和聊天的同时，我还能打极高水平的国际象棋并赢得胜利。”一次坐20场或更多场比赛。 “至少在闪电象棋比赛中，至少在网络上，我可能是有史以来最好或第二好的球员。”

If Nakamura is as good as he says — and he is, judging from his numerous titles, various international awards and 288 victories in 302 streamed matches — then it makes sense that chess fans are tuning in. If Serena Williams and Usain Bolt showed off their unique abilities every day on a livestream, wouldn’t you watch?

如果Nakamura像他所说的那样出色-并且从他的无数冠军，各种国际奖项和302场比赛中获得288场胜利来看-那么，国际象棋迷们就会加入进来。如果Serena Williams和Usain Bolt炫耀他们的每天在直播中具有独特的能力，您不会看吗？

Still, chess, to put it kindly, is not quite as visually stimulating as a tennis match or a 100-meter dash. So what else is part of the secret?

仍然说，国际象棋在视觉上还不如网球比赛或百米短跑冲刺。 那么，秘密还有什么呢？

Many devotees at “Naka’s PogUniversity” — the name of Nakamura’s community on Discord, a voice and text chat application — said they had been sucked in after rediscovering chess in the past few months while stuck inside. Many had dabbled in the game as children.

“ Naka's PogUniversity”的许多奉献者(中村在语音和文本聊天应用程序Discord上的名称)表示在过去几个月重新发现国际象棋后被卡在里面而被吸引。 许多人从小就涉足游戏。

“When I was growing up, high-level chess was secreted behind closed doors, played by the privileged, moneyed people in society,” said Clayton Chan, 43, from Tustin, California. “Realizing that I could see chess being played at the highest levels and seeing the players on Twitch communicate their thoughts with the community really resonated with me.”

“当我长大时，高级象棋是秘密地关在门后的，由社会上有钱的有钱人玩，” 43岁的克莱顿·陈说，来自加利福尼亚州塔斯廷。 “意识到我可以看到最高级别的国际象棋，并看到Twitch上的玩家与社区交流他们的想法，这确实让我产生了共鸣。”

Noah Olsen, 24, who lives in Washington, D.C., said he enjoyed how interactive Nakamura was with his fans. The grandmaster sometimes invites his subscribers to play against him on the stream, and he will start with fewer pieces as a handicap or play blindfolded.

现年24岁的诺亚·奥尔森(Noah Olsen)居住在华盛顿特区，他说他很喜欢中村与歌迷互动。 宗师有时会邀请其订户在小河上与他对战，而让分盘时他将以更少的筹码开始比赛或蒙住双眼 。

“It’s definitely a lot of fun to know you’re going up against a chess mind the caliber of Hikaru,” Olsen said. “But the 10,000 people watching while he dismantles you is a little nerve-racking.”

奥尔森说：“知道你与国际象棋棋手一样的光头，绝对是一件很有趣的事情。” “但是当他拆除您时，有10,000人在观看，这有点令人不安。”

In Murcia, Spain, Anthony Nicolaou, 16, recently discovered Nakamura’s channel. That inspired him to rededicate himself to a longtime goal: to beat his father at chess.

在西班牙穆尔西亚，16岁的安东尼·尼古拉(Anthony Nicolaou)最近发现了中村的频道。 这激发了他重新致力于长期目标：在国际象棋上击败父亲。

“The most important thing I learned from him is that it’s OK to be bad,” he said of watching Nakamura. “I realized you can still learn and improve without feeling like an idiot.”

“我从他那里学到的最重要的事情是，做坏事是可以的，”他谈到中村时说道。 “我意识到您仍然可以学习和改进而不会像个白痴。”

Nakamura has become a coach for streamers, too. He ranges from supportive to exasperated with the shortcomings of his protégés. Fans love when he loses his mind at a poorly thought-out move.

中村也成为了彩带教练。 对于支持者的缺点，他的支持程度从高到低。 当他因深思熟虑的举动而失去理智时，球迷们会爱上他。

“He makes all sorts of faces,” Benton of Cornell said.

康奈尔大学的本顿说：“他做各种鬼脸。”

The chess fever sweeping Twitch has been a boon for those who make money streaming the games. Eric Hansen, 28, a grandmaster who streams on the Twitch channel ChessBrah, said he could make six figures a year on the platform through sales of merchandise, ad sponsorships and subscriber contributions.

象棋热潮席卷了Twitch，对那些通过游戏赚钱的人来说是福音。 现年 28岁的埃里克·汉森(Eric Hansen)是Twitch频道ChessBrah上的节目主持人 ，他说，他可以通过销售商品，广告赞助和订户贡献，在平台上每年赚六位数。

Nakamura said all the attention was a victory for chess.

中村说，所有的注意力都是国际象棋的胜利。

“I’ve seen a lot of booms and busts,” he said. But this time, “I don’t actually see it tailing off now. I think the future’s extremely bright.”

他说：“我见过很多兴衰。” 但这一次，“我现在还没有看到它逐渐消失。 我认为未来非常光明。”

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