This work contains a detailed discussion of the literature surrounding the Turk along with an analysis of its hidden operation.
Besides playing a good game of chess within an hour's time, the manipulator had to keep track of the moves, work the pantograph arm apparatus, nod the head, roll the eyes, cover up sneezes and coughs, and work the sound mechanism. In actuality, the Turk was manipulated by a man housed in a hot box, working by candlelight-but the secret was kept for decades. In actuality, the Turk was manipulated by a man housed in a hot box, working by candlelight-but the secret was kept fo With all-new research and facts unknown for two centuries, this is a richly detailed and comprehensive account of The Turk, Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen's amazing but fraudulent Chess Automaton that held the world spellbound for 85 years beginning in 1770. In it, he wrote that as the automaton burned, he imagined he could hear its voice box saying “check!” over the sound of the blaze.With all-new research and facts unknown for two centuries, this is a richly detailed and comprehensive account of The Turk, Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen's amazing but fraudulent Chess Automaton that held the world spellbound for 85 years beginning in 1770. Silas Mitchell would go on to pen the first tell-all article exposing the Turk’s secrets. Mitchell’s son, Silas, rushed to the site, yet by the time he arrived, the flames had already consumed the 85-year-old chess player. It lay dormant until the night of July 5, 1854, when the museum caught fire. The Turk had met kings and queens and fooled thousands of people during its illustrious career, but once consigned to the Chinese Museum, it was largely forgotten. The automaton, produced in 1770, bested a host of chess. Led by a doctor named John Kearsley Mitchell, the group eventually spent several months exhibiting the automaton in Philadelphia before donating it to the city’s Chinese Museum. Wolfgang von Kempelens mechanical chess player was one of the most famous automata of all time. His chess automaton fell into the hands of one of his creditors, who eventually sold it to a syndicate of enthusiasts who were interested in unlocking the truth about its operation. The Turk held its secrets tight for over 65 years, but the ruse finally started to unravel in 1838, when Maelzel died during an ocean voyage from Cuba to the United States. During the Turk’s American tour, Maelzel used a European chess master named William Schlumberger, who posed as his personal secretary whenever he wasn’t concealed inside the cabinet.
Kempelen and Maelzel both relied on skilled players whom they either enlisted during their travels or brought with them as phony members of their entourage. “It is quite certain,” he wrote, “that the operations of the automaton are regulated by mind, and by nothing else.”įinding a person skilled enough to conduct all of these mechanical operations was certainly no easy task, but the even bigger problem was getting an operator who was an expert at chess. In Richmond, Virginia, one of the Turk’s performances was witnessed by a young Edgar Allan Poe, who later wrote an essay arguing that the machine was a sham orchestrated by a hidden human operator. After dazzling audiences in New York, he took it to Boston and Philadelphia before embarking on an extended tour of the South. It was Maelzel who later brought the Turk to the United States in 1826. The French emperor reportedly attempted a few illegal moves during the game-which he lost-but each time, his mechanical adversary would simply shake its head and place the piece back where it had been. Other chess machines include Mephisto and El Ajedrecista. It is said that many strong chess players have operated it and many prominent persons have played with Ajeeb. It was created by Charles Hooper and first presented in 1868. It was a challenge and from the challenge one of the most interesting stories about magic and robots came to be. One of these other pseudo-automatons was Ajeeb, a similar chess-playing machine operated by a human operator. It was not even intended to be a magic trick. Maelzel’s biggest coup came in Vienna in 1809, when he arranged a match between the Turk and Napoleon Bonaparte. The Chess Playing Turk AutomatonThe magic trick that astounded the world was not made by a magician. He also started promoting its performances with advertisements and newspaper articles. Maelzel added a bit of flair to his exhibitions by installing a mechanical voice box that allowed the automaton to say “check!” whenever it endangered an opponent’s king. Kempelen died in 1804, but the Turk was later purchased by a German inventor and showman named Johann Maelzel, who toured with it for the rest of his life.