MARK RUBERY CHESS
Well before the age of computers there was a chess automaton that enthralled the aristocracy of that time call the ‘Turk’. It first appeared in the court of the Empress Maria Theresa in 1769 where the legend of its ability began to grow. In 1783 it embarked on a tour of Europe where it defeated some of the best players of that era before being bested by Philidor. The ‘Turk’ continued to give exhibitions all around the world before it was placed in a museum in Philadelphia in 1826 and was later destroyed in a fire in 1854. The automaton consisted of a life-size Turkish looking figure sitting at a desk more than a metre wide, 80 cm high and 60 cm deep. There were three doors which one could open and shine a candle to show the spectators that it contained only machinery. Robert Willis revealed the mystery of how the ‘Turk’ was able to perform in 1820 in a book where he described how a full-grown man could fit inside and escape detection and be able to signal his moves. This was later confirmed when, Mouret, a former operator of the machine sold his secret to a magazine in 1834, although this did little diminish the reputation of the ‘Turk’. When playing against the Napoleon it was surmised that Allgaier, one of the prominent players of that time, was inside the automaton.
There are some questions to the authenticity of the following game, yet White’s play is so bad that it is surely not contrived.
Napoleon I - The Automaton [C20]
Schoenbrunn Vienna, 1809 1.e4 e5 2.Qf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 (Attempting ‘Scholar’s mate’ was not above the emperor of France)…
Nf6 4.Ne2 Bc5 5.a3 d6 6.0–0 Bg4 7.Qd3 Nh5 8.h3 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Nf4 (9…Ng3 10 Qf3) 10.Qe1? Nd4 (Missing the crushing 11…Qg5! that leads to a forced mate. Perhaps Black thought it might be unwise to defeat his famous opponent so quickly?) 11.Bb3 Nxh3+ 12.Kh2 Qh4 13.g3 Nf3+ 14.Kg2 Nxe1+ 15.Rxe1 Qg4 16.d3 Bxf2 17.Rh1 Qxg3+ 18.Kf1 Bd4 19.Ke2 Qg2+ 20.Kd1 Qxh1+ 21.Kd2 Qg2+ 22.Ke1 Ng1 23.Nc3 Bxc3+ 24.bxc3 Qe2# 0–1
Nevertheless had Napoleon’s military strategy been on a par with his chess ability the history of Europe would be somewhat different. WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN