Twelve stories, two minutes each.

Story 1 · 2 minute read 付不起赏赐的国王 一份小得让国王发笑的赏赐 — 却大得让他的王国付不起。 印度，一个非常古老的传说 Story 2 · 2 minute read 军队的四个兵种 在成为国际象棋之前，它叫恰图兰卡 — 棋盘上的军队是一支真实的军队。 印度北部，约 1,500 年前 Story 3 · 2 minute read 一首藏着马的诗 一位诗人把马的行程藏在一首诗里 — 这是我们所知最古老的一次。 克什米尔，约 1,100 年前 Story 4 · 2 minute read 变成王后的谋士 八百年里，王旁边的那个棋子是棋盘上最弱的。后来有人改了一条规则。 西班牙和意大利，约 1475 年 Story 5 · 3 minute read The champion who trusted his eyes He could not read the chess books. He beat the people who wrote them. Punjab and London, 1929 to 1933 Story 6 · 2 minute read The machine with a man inside It beat emperors at chess. It also had a secret. Vienna, 1770 Story 7 · 2 minute read The machine that counted Two hundred years after the fake, a real machine sat down against the world champion. New York, 1997 Story 8 · 2 minute read Ninety-two ways A question in a chess magazine that mathematicians could not leave alone. Germany, 1848 Story 9 · 2 minute read The first queen of chess She won the first women’s world championship — and then went looking for harder games. London, 1927 Story 10 · 3 minute read Three sisters and an experiment A teacher believed that champions are made, not born. He decided to prove it at home. Budapest, the 1970s and 1980s Story 11 · 2 minute read The clock with two faces Once, a player could think for as long as he liked. Then somebody lost patience. London, 1883 Story 12 · 2 minute read The boy who would not wait At eighteen he became the youngest world chess champion there has ever been. Chennai and Singapore, 2024