有一种人我最不喜欢和他下棋，那便是太有涵养的人。杀死他一大块，或是抽了他一个车，他神色自若，不动火，不生气，好像是无关痛痒，使得你觉得索然寡味。君子无所争，下棋却是要争的。当你给对方一个严重威胁的时候，对方的头上青筋暴露，黄豆般的汗珠一颗颗的在额上陈列出来，或哭丧着脸作惨笑，或咕嘟着嘴作吃屎状，或抓耳挠腮，或大叫一声，或长吁短叹，或自怨自艾口中念念有词，或一串串的噎膈打个不休，或红头涨脸如关公，种种现象，不一而足，这时节你“行有余力”便可以点起一枝烟，或啜一碗茶，静静的欣赏对方的苦闷的象征。我想猎人困逐一只野兔的时候，其愉快大概略相仿佛。因此我悟出一点道理，和人下棋的时候，如果有机会使对方受窘，当然无所不用其极，如果被对方所窘，便努力作出不介意状，因为既不能积极的给对方以烦恼，只好消极的减少对方的乐趣。

　　　The last man I would like to play chess with is a man with too much self-control. When he sees a huge piece of his position taken by his opponent (as in Go), or *a chariot, lost to his opponent through an erroneous move (as in Chinese chess), he remains calm and unruffled, as if nothing whatever has happened. And that air of his will surely make you feel flat and insipid. A real gentleman seldom contests with others; he will, however, seek to do his opponent down in a game of chess. When you put him on the spot, you can expect to see blue veins standing out on his temples and drops of cold sweat the size of soybean appearing on his forehead. He will either wear a wan smile on his long face, or purse his lips in displeasure, or scratch his head, or let out a sharp cry, or sigh and groan, or bitterly repent his folly, or keep hiccupping unceasingly, or flush crimson with shame, and suchlike. And at such a moment, feeling carefree, you can light a cigarette or just take a sip from your teacup and savor the signs of your opponent's discomfort. The pleasure you have from it, I believe, is by no means less than that a hunter gets from a deadbeat rabbit at his mercy. And from this I have found out something—when engaged in a game of chess, you should resort to every conceivable means to embarrass your opponent, and try hard to remain calm when you yourself fall into difficulty. If you are unable to cause your opponent to suffer, why not try to let him find as little pleasure as possible from your trouble?

　　自古博奕并称，全是属于赌的一类，而且只是比“饱食终日无所用心”略胜一筹而已。不过奕虽小术，亦可以观人，相传有慢性人，见对方走当头炮，便左思右想，不知是跳左边的马好，还是跳右边的马好，想了半个钟头而迟迟不决，急得对方拱手认输。是有这样的慢性人，每一着都要考虑，而且是加慢的考虑，我常想这种人如加入龟兔竞赛，也必定可以获胜。也有性急的人，下棋如赛跑，劈劈拍拍，草草了事，这仍就是饱食终日无所用心的一贯作风。下棋不能无争，争的范围有大有小，有斤斤计较而因小失大者，有不拘小节而眼观全局者，有短兵相接作生死斗者，有各自为战而旗鼓相当者，有赶尽杀绝一步不让者，有好勇斗狠同归于尽者，有一面下棋一面诮骂者，但最不幸的是争的范围超出了棋盘，而拳足交加。有下象棋者，久而无声响，排闼视之阒不见人，原来他们是在门后角里扭做一团，一个人骑在另一个人的身上，在他的口里挖车呢。被挖者不敢出声，出声则口张，口张则车被挖回，挖回则必悔棋，悔棋则不得胜，这种认真的态度憨得可爱。我曾见过二人手谈，起先是坐着，神情潇洒，望之如神仙中人。俄而棋势吃紧，两人都站起来了，剑拔弩张，如斗鹌鹑，最后到了生死关头，两个人跳到桌上去了！

　　Bo (gaming) and Yi (playing chess) have long been mentioned in the same breath (in Chinese), for they have some features in common--both belong to gambling and are regarded as just slightly better than "being sated with food and idling all day long". Playing chess, indeed, is not a significant skill, yet we can study a man through his moves on the chessboard. It is believed that there once lived a slow-going man, who, after his opponent had moved the cannon to the center, dithered for half an hour about whether to move the left horse or the right one, making his opponent choose to give up rather than wait any longer. Such people do exist: they never make a move unless they have thought it over again and again. It seems to me that they would surely win the tortoise-hare race if they took part in it. On the other hand, there are also impetuous people around us, who are always impatient and make hasty moves in chess playing, just like they are in a race. That is also the consistent way of those who eat all day long without exerting their minds. In a game, no one wants to be beaten; quite to the contrary, everybody wants to win. However, what to contend for and how to scramble is quite different from one person to another--calculating people try to save a little only to lose a lot, sagacious ones give up a little for a lot, intrepid ones fight to the bitter end in hand-to-hand combat, even-stevens each go their own ways, ruthless ones do not budge an inch, and competitive and unyielding ones each seek to beat their opponents only to end in common ruin. There are also people who keep uttering foul and novel terms as they play. What is worst, we can even find people who develop their scrambling in chess into a fierce fight. Once there were two players, whose long silence made some man of curiosity open the door to see what the matter was. In the extreme quietness neither was seen at first, later they were found grappling with each other one over the other behind the door. The one who got the upper hand was trying to dig his chariot out from the other’s mouth, so the latter was unable to make any noise, for he would have to open his mouth if he tried to, and, if he opened his mouth, the chariot would be taken out. And the chariot being taken back, his opponent would certainly make a retraction, which would cause him difficulty in winning the game. Such a serious attitude of the two is charmingly naive. I myself once happened to see two men locked in a game of chess, both seated quietly with a peaceful expression like supernatural beings until the situation became critical, at which point both of them stood up with an aggressive look. And later when the decisive moment came, the two even jumped up onto the table!

　　笠翁《闲情偶寄》说奕棋不如观棋，因观者无得失心，观棋是有趣的事，如看斗牛、斗鸡、斗蟋蟀一般，但是观棋也有难过处，观棋不语是一种痛苦。喉间硬是痒得出奇，思一吐为快。看见一个人要入陷阱而不作声是几乎不可能的事，如果说得中肯，其中一个人要厌恨你，暗暗的骂一声“多嘴驴！”另一个人也不感激你，心想“难道我还不晓得这样走！”如果说得不中肯，两个人要一齐嗤之以鼻，“无见识奴！”如果根本不说，蹩在心里，受病。所以有人于挨了一个耳光之后还要抚着热辣辣的嘴巴大呼“要抽车，要抽车！”

　　In his Xian Qing Ou Ji (Notes at Leisure), Li Yu, who styled himself Li Weng, said, “To play chess is not so interesting as to watch others play, for an onlooker has nothing to worry about—gain or loss has nothing to do with him.” Watching others playing chess indeed is quite interesting, just like watching bullfighting, cockfighting or cricket-fighting, yet an onlooker also has his own suffering, say, to keep silence while watching. He will have a terrible itch in his throat—itch to speak out. How can one keep his mouth shut and watch a man fall into a snare? However, your advice is usually unwelcome—if it does make some sense, one player will hate you and curse you inwardly, “What a big mouth”, while the other, whom you intend to help, will not be grateful to you, “You’re telling me! I’m not a fool!” And if there is little or no sense in your advice, both players will give you a snort of contempt, “What a fool!” However, forcing yourself to keep it to yourself, you will feel very much oppressed. No wonder why there was a man who had just got a slap in the face but still cried, “Chariot! The chariot is in danger!”

　　下棋只是为了消遣，其所以能使这样多人嗜此不疲者，是因为它颇合于人类好斗的本能，这是一种“斗智不斗力”的游戏。所以瓜棚豆架之下，与世无争的村夫野老不免一枰相对，消此永昼；闹市茶寮之中，常有有闲阶级的人士下棋消遣，“不为无益之事，何以遣此有涯之生？”宦海里翻过身最后退隐东山的大人先生们，髀肉复生，而英雄无用武之地，也只好闲来对奕，了此残生，下棋全是“剩馀精力”的发泄。人总是要斗的，总是要钩心斗角的和人争逐的。与其和人争权夺利，还不如在棋盘上多占几个官，与其招摇撞骗，还不如在棋盘上抽上一车。宋人笔记曾载有一段故事：“李讷仆射，性卞急，酷好奕棋，每下子安详，极于宽缓，往往躁怒作，家人辈则密以奕具陈于前，讷赌，便忻然改容，以取其子布弄，都忘其恚矣。”《南部新书》下棋，有没有这样陶冶性情之功，我不敢说，不过有人下起棋来确实是把性命都可置诸度外。我有两个朋友下棋，警报作，不动声色，俄而弹落，棋子被震得在盘上跳荡，屋瓦乱飞，其中一位棋瘾较小者变色而起，被对方一把拉住，“你走！那就算是你输了”。此公深得棋中之趣。

　　Most players of chess play just for diversion. Chess has so many enthusiasts only because it suits man’s bellicosity. It is a contest “of wits, not of strength”. So you may find country folks, who stand aloof from worldly success, seated at the chessboard in the melon shed or under the legume trellis, you may also find members of the leisured class locked in chess, passing the time in teahouses or pubs on busy streets—”If not to do something senseless, how to beguile the long life?” Also, VIPs in retirement from setbacks in their official careers now living in clover, having no other scope to exercise their abilities, cannot but while away their remaining years with chess. Thus we say it is to give vent to one’s “spare energy” to play chess. Men are born bellicose. They have never ceased intriguing against each other. It is far better to occupy more position on the chessboard than to jockey for more power and profit in real life. It is also far better to take a chariot of your opponent’s than to swindle and cheat others. A man of the Song Dynasty had the following story recorded in one of his books: “Prime Minister Li Ne, a keen lover of chess, was a man of no patience and impetuosity, whose anger would give way to smiles once engaged in a game of chess. Every time he got angry, his wife or some other member of his family would have the game of chess brought out and placed before him quietly. Seeing the game, Li would calm down. Forgetting all the unpleasantness, he would take up a piece and turn his mind to chess (see: Nan Bu Xin Shu, i.e., New Book of the South)”. Whether it is true that playing chess can exert such a favorable influence on one’s temperament, I am not sure. Yet it is quite true that there are people who will give no thought to their lives when engaged in games of chess. Two friends of mine were locked up in a game one day, and neither of them turned a hair when an air raid siren suddenly sounded. A bomb exploded on the ground not far away a moment later, setting the pieces on the chessboard dancing and the tiles on the roof shaking. The one not quite so absorbed was somewhat alarmed and rose from the table but was stopped by his opponent. “You leave? Then it is you that lose the game.” You see, what pleasure he has found in chess!