The Turk – A Fantastic Hoax
Many of us believe that the first “chess machines”, or computers, were invented in the 20th Century. Big mistake! One of the oldest chess machines was known as “the Turk”. It was a chess automaton used in the 18th Century. The Turk was so fantastic that it almost always won.
The Turk was invented and constructed by Wolfgang von Kempelen (1734 – 1804). He was an engineer and build this automaton to distract the royal court of Vienna. You could only see the top of the body of the Turk. He sat stiffly behind a table. He could play chess, he moved the pieces himself, and he could even answer questions by pointing the letters and numbers that were around the chess board. Because of his turban and of his oriental clothes, he was called “the Turk”, but that was its only relation to Turkey.
The exhibition always started in the same way: the public could inspect the cupboard that was beneath the Turk. The announcer showed the inside of the furniture. He opened the doors so you could see gear-trains that were supposed to be the “brain” of the Turk. Then, a lit candle was positioned behind the cupboard. It was supposed to prove that there was no one hidden behind the gear-trains. After that, the doors were closed again, and the game could start. The public could then see the Turk take a piece from the board and, very slowly, move it on the board. The Turk almost always won. Throughout its trip around Europe, the machine lost only very few times against very strong players like Philidor or Verdoni.
There were very different reactions from the public. Some people really believed they were in front of a fantastic machine. Other people thought that there was a human hiding somewhere. The sceptic side was correct, as you very well can imagine. There was a very clever system going into the cupboard, so the player, who was hidden below could move the pieces on the board. The player could see what was played thanks to a magnetic system that worked on both sides of the board.
The hoax was eventually discovered: two young men who watched a game and were placed above the Turk, saw someone leave discreetly from the furniture long time after the game was over. The hoax was definitely discovered the day when one of the players that was in the Turk explained the whole thing to a newspaper.
Edgar Allan Poe, who was a chess amateur, always thought it was a hoax. Poe had a very idealistic (and logical) way to think and according to him: “The Automaton does not invariably win the game. Were the machine a pure machine this would not be the case — it would always win.”
The Turk had a sad destiny: It was bought by Johann Maelzel after his “father”, von Kempelen, died in 1804. Maelzel, who was a strong player, operated the Turk himself while presenting it at different exhibitions. Maelzel died in 1838 and no one used the Turk anymore. It was given to the chinese museum of Philadelphia. A fire destroyed it in 1854.
About the Author
Psychotherapist and hypnotherapist with many passions: Chess, computers, Age of Conan (played WoW for almost 2 years but dropped out at Cataclysm), drawing, music (I play the guitar and drums), languages, travels, art, religion and philosophy, photography, movies… Many many many sides of life.
Humpty Dumpty by Edgar Allan Poe
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