COLD OPEN+ · SCIENCE & HISTORY
COLD OPEN+ · Nº 10 of 40
The Chess Robot That Fooled Napoleon
For decades, a mechanical 'robot' beat the greatest minds in Europe at chess — Napoleon among them. Its secret held for over 80 years.
Wikimedia Commons · Joseph Racknitz · Public domain
10
THE MACHINE
Meet 'The Turk'
Built in 1770 by the Hungarian inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen for Empress Maria Theresa, it was a life-sized figure seated at a cabinet chessboard. It moved the pieces with a mechanical arm — and, astonishingly, it won, again and again.
Wikimedia Commons · Wolfgang von Kempelen · Public domain
10
THE SPECTACLE
It beat the famous and powerful
Its owners toured Europe and America for decades. The Turk played Benjamin Franklin in Paris around 1783, and famously beat Napoleon Bonaparte in 1809. When Napoleon tried an illegal move, the Turk reportedly swept the pieces off the board.
10
THE 'PROOF' IT WAS REAL
They opened the cabinet first
Before each match, the operator would swing open the cabinet doors to reveal a dense tangle of gears and machinery inside. See? No room for a person. Just clockwork genius. It was a carefully staged illusion.
10
THE TRUTH
84 YEARS
1770 TO 1854 — HOW LONG THE SECRET HELD
There was a human inside
The gears were a stage set. A skilled human chess master hid inside the cabinet on a sliding seat, dodging behind the machinery as the doors opened, and worked the arm with levers and magnets from within. Strong players took turns as the hidden operator.
10
THE ILLUSION KIT
How it fooled everyone
Every 'proof' was part of the trick.
THE REVEAL
Open doors that hid the operator's space
THE SEAT
A sliding chair to stay out of view
THE MAGNETS
The board's pieces read from underneath
THE STORY
'A machine that thinks' — irresistible
10
THE MODERN ECHO
People will believe a machine is magic long before they suspect a person is hiding.
Two centuries later, we still overestimate 'the machine' and underestimate the humans quietly behind it. When something seems too smart to be true, ask who's inside the cabinet.
10
THE RECEIPTS · THIS REALLY HAPPENED
Look it up yourself
One of history's most famous hoaxes.
MACHINE
The Mechanical Turk ('The Turk')
BUILT
1770, by Wolfgang von Kempelen
NOTABLE OPPONENTS
Benjamin Franklin (~1783), Napoleon (1809)
LATER OWNER
Johann Nepomuk Maelzel
THE SECRET
A hidden human chess master inside
DESTROYED
By fire, 1854, in Philadelphia
10
DISCUSS
What do you think?
Where today do we credit 'the machine' when humans are doing the work?
Why was 'a thinking machine' easier to believe than 'a person is hiding'?
10