The Turk, Chess Automaton

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With all-new research revealing facts unrecalled for two centuries, this is a richly detailed and exhaustive account of the elaborate and astonishing 18th Century chess-playing machine in human form known as "the Turk," Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen's amazing Automaton that held the world spellbound for 85 years beginning in 1770.

In actuality, the Turk was manipulated by a man housed in a hot box, working by candlelight - but the secret was kept for decades. In addition to playing a good game of chess within an hour's time, the hidden director had to keep track of the position, move the pieces with the pantograph arm apparatus, nod the head, roll the eyes, cover up sneezes and coughs, and work the mechanism that spoke the word "Échec!"

This work contains a detailed discussion of the sizeable body of literature surrounding the Turk along with an extensive analysis of its hidden Operation. A collection of published games played by the Turk, many, again, unknown for 200 years, is also included, along with numerous other games known to have been played elsewhere by the Turk's hidden directors.

Gerald M. Levitt has been playing postal and over-the-board chess for many years. He has authored numerous articles for Chess Life and floridaCHESS, written a chess column, and made live radio appearances as a chess expert. A retired doctor of podiatric medicine, he lives in Naples, Florida.