.

.

Inhuman Chess

Two Centuries of Mechanical Players—& Hoaxes

Computerized chess programs today can defeat the most brilliant human grandmasters. In past centuries, several famous automatons—chess-playing robots—wrought similar embarrassment on masters of their own periods. At least, that was what their promoters wanted the ticket-buying public to believe.

First on display was "Turk," the work of an Austrian, Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. Debuted in 1769, "Turk" was a life-size figure in Arabian garb, seated behind a chessboard placed atop a sizeable wooden box. Inside the box was a curious system of mechanical workings that duly impressed the audience when it was unveiled to them at the beginning of each game. Whenever "Turk" reached to make his move, observers could hear machinery grinding below. "Turk" earned money for several successive owners, both as a competitor and later, after "retirement," as a museum attraction. Ultimately exhibited at the Chinese Museum in Philadelphia, it was destroyed in a fire in 1854.

Was it really an "intelligent machine?" Among its skeptics was Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote an exposé, "Maelzel's Chess Player" (Johann Maelzel, a Bavarian musician, was one of its owners). Poe claimed a man of small stature sat within the exotically clad figure, watching the board through a tiny opening in the clothing at breast level and manipulating the mechanical arm.

Next came a French chess master named Mouret. Operating an automaton in London over a period of months in 1820, he (or the machine) took on 300 challengers and, astoundingly, won or drew all but six games. It's even more astounding since Mouret gave each opponent the first move and the opening advantage of a pawn. Automaton or no, it was a remarkable chess exhibition.

"Ajeeb" was the 1868 creation of Englishman Charles A. Hopper. Dressed as an Egyptian, it performed on two continents for 60 years. Like "Turk," it met its end by fire.

"Mephisto" was invented in 1878 by a prosthesis maker, Charles Gumpel. Naysayers of Poe's persuasion suspected that, as before, a live player was posted inside. At any rate, progress was being made: "Mephisto" may have been the first automaton partly controlled by electricity.

The first legitimate chess machine appears to have been an automaton developed by Torres y Quevedo, a Spanish scientist, introduced in 1890. Quevedo's player made no attempt to "think" through an entire game, only a simple ending (king with rook versus king). Still, it was ingenious for its day and was a true precursor of the technology that has changed the game of chess forever.

Return to the current issue of Blithering Antiquity

Return to the home page of Blithering Antiquity

Return to Hornpipe Vintage Publications

 ..

© 2003 Hornpipe Vintage Publications

All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this Web site may be used without express written permission from the editor.