But villagers weren't always interested in thecheckered board game. Back in the '60s and '70s, their passions lay elsewhere – mainly in thelocal liquor that they made for a living.

但是，他們一開(kāi)始其實(shí)對(duì)象棋并不感興趣。上世紀(jì)六七十年代的時(shí)候，他們的愛(ài)好主要是當(dāng)?shù)厝速?lài)以生存的廉價(jià)酒。

Many of the residents were addicted to the cheap brew, with disastrous consequences for thewhole community. Things got so bad at one point that a few villagers actually requestedgovernment authorities to raid the village and get rid of some of their liquor stock.

許多村民那時(shí)染上了酒癮，給整個(gè)村落帶來(lái)災(zāi)難性的后果。事情一度發(fā)展到了不可收拾的地步。幾個(gè)村民甚至請(qǐng)求當(dāng)?shù)卣�府進(jìn)村收酒，來(lái)幫助他們解除這個(gè)這項(xiàng)惡習(xí)。

But things began to change when one villager – a 10th grade student named C. Unnikrishnan –decided that he wanted to learn chess. Inspired by a news report about American legendBobby Fischer, Unnikrishnan traveled to a nearby village to attend classes and learn the gamehimself. And once he got the hang of it, he made it his mission to get everyone in the villagehooked.

不過(guò)在10年級(jí)學(xué)生C·烏尼克里斯南決定學(xué)習(xí)國(guó)際象棋并讓每個(gè)村民都愛(ài)上國(guó)際象棋后，村莊發(fā)生了新的變化。受到一篇關(guān)于美國(guó)傳奇人物鮑比·菲舍爾的報(bào)道的影響，烏尼克里斯南跑到鄰村學(xué)習(xí)國(guó)際象棋。當(dāng)他掌握了這項(xiàng)棋類(lèi)之后，他就把這種游戲帶回村里。

So he started giving free chess lessons at his house to anyone who was willing to learn, andto his delight, the chess bug spread through Marottichal like wildfire. Not only did they graspthe nuances of the game, they also developed a deep passion for it.

他在家開(kāi)設(shè)免費(fèi)國(guó)際象棋課程，教那些愿意學(xué)習(xí)的人。令他高興的是，國(guó)際象棋熱很快席卷了整個(gè)村莊。他們不僅掌握了游戲的精髓，也對(duì)游戲產(chǎn)生了濃厚的熱情。

As Unnikrishnan puts it: "Chess is my passion. Once I start playing, I forget everything."

就像烏尼克里斯南所倡導(dǎo)的：“下棋是我最熱愛(ài)的事情。一旦我開(kāi)始玩，我就會(huì)忘記一切。”