While at that time the first calculating machines (Pascaline) and the binary number system (Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz) had already been discovered, the dream of developing a capable chess automaton that could play the game of chess against a human opponent completely autonomously continued to live on in many places. The beginnings had little to do with the later common chess programs as they are known from computers today. Regardless of the fact that no screen had a graphic or a display with lights demonstrating the progress of the game, there was also a lot of cheating in the actual chess automaton. The first automaton dummy was the „Turk“, which was built by Wolfgang von Kempelen in 1769. The demonstration of a French magician in 1769 in front of the Austrian empress Maria Theresia, Wolfgang von Kempelen thought to be unimpressive. So he told the ruler that he could build a machine that would be considerably more spectacular and amazing. Thus began the story of the Shaft Turk. The German-Hungarian court secretary and later court councilor Wolfgang von Kempelen (1734-26.3.1804) from Pressburg/Bratislava made good on his promise and demonstrated his invention to the empress and her entourage in the spring of 1770. The audience was impressed by the seemingly automatic chess player, which had an extraordinary playing strength. It was a mannequin dressed in a robe and turban, under which was a 120 cm × 60 cm × 90 cm wooden cabin containing the clockwork mechanisms that set the mannequin in motion. The manhole owed its automatism to an ingenious trick, but it was nevertheless a technical feat of its time. In reality, it was an optical illusion, so inside was a small chess master (some are said to have lacked legs) that controlled the dummy. The main board had a spring under each square and each piece contained a magnet so the operator knew which piece had been moved. This had a second board with a mechanism to perform the movements of the „Turk“. The perfect illusion was created by von Kempelen and later Mälzel through their professional presentation, which resembled a magic show, distractions and feints included. Speculations about how the Schachtürken worked were numerous. Had von Kempelen really developed an ingenious automaton on a par with human intelligence? Was it magnetic forces or invisible cords that moved the Turk? Was there a little person or a child sitting in the box? The conjectures filled tracts and books. Although some authors were on the trail of the truth, no one was able to unravel the mystery exactly. Wolfgang von Kempelen participated in this enthusiasm for automata not only with the Schachtürken. He constructed a speaking machine, which he also used in the Turk and which, among other things, could say „Schach“ or „Échec“. The Turk played against many famous personalities during his career. In addition to games against Maria Theresa and Benjamin Franklin, the game in 1809 against Napoleon in Vienna was the highlight of his career. Napoleon tried to test the Turk by making illicit moves. The Turk is said to have reacted first by bowing and placing the piece in its proper place. After further deceptions by Napoleon, the automaton wiped the pieces off the table, earning praise from the French emperor. Charles Babbage, who lost a game against the Turk in London in 1819, was also impressed by the automaton’s performance. He suspected that the Turk was a sham automaton, but he wondered if it was possible to build a chess automaton. The mechanical calculating machines he later constructed mentally anticipated some important principles of the computer.
