The Turk
Turk Turk or short is the colloquial name for an alleged chess robot, which was designed and built in 1769 by the Austro -Hungarian court officials and mechanics Wolfgang von Kempelen. The builder was in the audience to create the impression that this device automatically played chess. In fact, a human chess player was hidden in it, which it operated. Copies of the device have been used until 1929 in various demonstrations and exhibitions.
History
The chess machine consisted of a dressed in Turkish costume figure of a man sitting at a table with chessboard. The figure has played with many famous chess players of the time and usually won. The Turk always started the game, raised his left arm, moving the pawn and then put his arm back on a cushion back. Each train of the enemy he looked around on the board. Was the train wrong, he shook his head and corrected the position of the figure. In Gardez, he nodded twice, three times at chess with his head. All movements were accompanied similar to that of a running movement by a noise.
Kempelen, the inventor who was anyone who wanted to see it, the inside of the machine and its mechanics like showed during the game. Bit off and looked into a little box, which stood on a table He left unsaid open the possibility that a transmission by a human to the machine was, however, refused always to give an indication of the underlying operating principle. About a possible magnetic transfer of train commands was the part of the viewer as well as puzzled about the possibility of the machine could perform the calculations independently, or at least for a portion of several trains without any human intervention.
This chess machine excited at that time quite a stir because it was the first machine that could play chess apparently. The many visitors your inventor Kempelen could defend himself only because he later announced that he had destroyed the machine or this is not a temporary operational.
Uncovering the mystery
After some years he led the machine in Vienna before Emperor Joseph and the Grand Duke Paul of Russia. Between 1783 and 1785, he undertook spectacular trips to Paris, London and in various German cities. In Paris lost the "Turk" a game against François -André Philidor Danican, the then world's best players. As can be seen from an article in the Journal des Savants ( September 1783 ), several scientists of the Académie française unsuccessfully tried to fathom the workings of the machine. In Berlin in 1785 is said to have allegedly played a game against Frederick the Great and defeated him the "Turk". Friedrich is Kempelen for uncovering the mystery have offered a large sum of money and after this was done, have been extremely disappointed. Since then, the "Turk" is said to have been unnoticed in a closet in the Potsdam Castle until 1806 Napoleon came there and remembered his. He also played against the machine and lost. This version of history is based on an article published in 1834 in the journal Magazine pittoresque and served as a basis for further article in Le Palamede in 1836 and Fraser 's magazine in 1839, but kept the current state of research is incorrect. In reality, the game against Napoleon was very likely in 1809 instead of Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.
1804 came into the possession of the machine born in Regensburg and later living as citizens in Vienna mechanic Johann Nepomuk Mälzel, which they bought from his son after the death of Kempelen and longer trips took it. Bernhard of Saxe -Weimar -Eisenach reported that he had seen the Chess Turk for the first time in Milan in Eugène de Beauharnais in 1812. He also described a visit to a presentation at Mälzel in New York. He came to London in 1819 and 1826 [Note 1] in the United States. From this phase a number of original parts is obtained, which were partially played with default. About the machine and the time in which it has Mälzel used in the United States, a detailed biography in English is available.
In London showed Kempelen visit Robert Willis with drawings first, after that in the machine a man can be hidden. His discovery he described in the article "The attempt to analyze the automaton chess player " in The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal. But until 1838 shared Thournay in the Revue mensuelle of Échecs, Volume 1, with that really people were hidden in it. Who were these helpers Kempelen, is not absolutely sure until today, but there are reports claiming that his daughter was employed until their disease for it. Mälzel sat for this purpose the German Johann Baptist Allgaier, in Paris, the French and Jacques François Mouret Boncourt, in London the Scot William Lewis and later the Alsatian Wilhelm Schlumberger one.
Also, the American writer Edgar Allan Poe analyzed the mystery of the automaton and published a possible solution in his essay " Maelzel 's chess player ".
Other sources report that the secret was first revealed, as in a presentation at a carnival, a viewer "Fire, fire ," cried. Mälzel then opened the box to let out the player. Another report states that the brothers Walker, who also replicas of the machine, watched climbed after an event in the backyard Schlumberger out of the box and this was carried away on the shoulders sweaty Mälzel.
Contemporary pictures
Engraving by Windisch
Engraving by Windisch
Engraving by Windisch
Title page Racknitz
Engraving by Racknitz
Engraving by Racknitz
Engraving by Racknitz
Whereabouts of the Chess Turk
After the death of Johann Nepomuk Mälzel the Turk came through an intermediary in the possession of the chess enthusiastic physician John K. Mitchell. This gave the machine, according to some private shows, in 1840 the Peale 's Museum in Philadelphia. After fourteen years as an exhibit of Turkish chess player caught fire on July 5, 1854 in a fire at the museum.
Replicas and survival
The first true replica already succeeded during travel Mälzel America. The brothers Walker already run in May 1827 after Mälzel had moved on to Baltimore, New York her American Chess Player ago. After Mälzel had learned of it, he traveled between by briefly returned to New York, attended the event organized by the Walker brothers and made the offer to buy their machines for $ 1000 and to provide the brothers with him. The brothers Walker refused, their performances were in the longer term, although only half the price of admission was required, ultimately unsuccessful, and they had to stop the events.
A substantially similar figure was built in 1865-1868 by Charles Hooper ( 1825-1900 ) from Bristol and was named Ajeeb ' The Egyptians '. The device was first shown in London until 1876 and reached 1885 in the United States. There was exhibited at New York's Museum of Eden and was a big attraction. Its operators during demonstrations included some of the best players in the country, including Harry Nelson Pillsbury and Constant Ferdinand Burille. In 1929 it was destroyed at Coney Iceland by fire.
The producer Charles Godfrey Gümpel built 1878 Mephisto. This electromagnetically via cable remote machine was operated among others of Isidor Gunsberg and Jean dovecote.
The interest in the history of chess Turks again rose with the advent of modern computer technology. Thus, a modern reconstruction of the Chess Turk now part of a permanent exhibition at the Heinz Nixdorf Museums Forum in Paderborn. The Technical Museum in Vienna visitors can play against a holographic version of the Chess Turk today.
More than two centuries after the construction of the Turk include chess computer chess programs or with " superhuman " skill level to reality. In the Fritz program a chess board with animated 3D representation of the Chess Turk has been integrated since version 9.
A possible etymological derivation of the term " something turks " or " build a Turk " in the sense of "something just pretend ", " fake something " refers to the figure of the Chess Turk because the Turkish dressed dolls figure should give the appearance of sentient machine and successful long aroused. The phrase is therefore not xenophobic, but starts from a concrete experience back then that had nothing to do with the mentioned nationality. The robe was exotic and should distract the viewer, as in many magic tricks only from the actual deception. Whether this explanation has to do with the actual origin of the phrase and its use has not been established.
From Walter Benjamin to the Turk is taken in his theses on the history as an allegory of the relationship between Marxism and theology: " Winning is always the doll called ' historical materialism '. She can easily get in touch with anyone when she takes the theology in their service, which is now known small and ugly and in any case must not be looking. " ( Collected Writings I.2, S.693 )