From 19th Century Chess by Bill Wall
Matches information from Edo Historical Chess Rating by Rod Edwards (1818, 1824)
In 1800, Wilhelm (William) Schlumberger (1800-1838) was born in Mulhouse, Alsace. <…>
He operated The Turk chess automaton.
In 1803, Wolfgang von Kempelen (1734-1804) sold the Turk chess automaton to Mr. Anthon. Anthon exhibited the Turk in London for five shillings.
On March 26, 1804, Wolfgang von Kempelen (born in 1734), inventor of the first automaton, the Turk, died in Alser, a suburb of Vienna. At the time of his death, he owned a country estate in Gomba, near Pozsony (Bratislava). He was the Aulic Counselor on Mechanics to the Royal Chamber of the Austrian Empire for 43 years.
In 1805, Johann Nepomuk Mälzel (Maelzel) (1772-1838), a Bavarian musician, bought the half-forgotten automaton chess player, The Turk, from Wolfgang von Kempelen’s son for 10,000 francs. He then took it from Vienna to Paris and sold it to Eugène de Beauharnais (1781-1824), Napoleon’s step-son, at a large profit.
In May 1809, the chess-playing automaton called the Turk (Allgaier) defeated Napoleon Bonaparte at the Palace of Schoenbrun in Vienna, Austria. Napoleon tried to cheat, but the Turk was able to move the chess piece back to its previous position.
In 1811, Eugene Rose de Beauharnais (1781-1824), Napoleon’s stepson, bought the Turk automaton for 30,000 francs.
In 1817, Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (1772-1838) repurchased the Turk automaton from Eugene Beauharnais (1781-1824) and the Bavarian court in Vienna. He was supposed to have paid the prince 30,000 francs for the machine, the same amount he sold it for. Maelzel then exhibited it in Paris. In 1805, Maelzel originally purchased Wolfgang von Kempelen’s Chess Turk.
In 1818, Aaron Alexandre (1765-1850) defeated Weyle (Automaton) in Paris (+2-1=0).
The report in La Régence (p.6) says that Alexandre won 2 out of 3 games against the Automaton (i.e., the Turk), on first going to the exhibition. On p.7, it says that the Automaton was directed by first Mouret, and then Boncourt. Other accounts of the Turk’s stay in Paris in 1817-1818 say that it was directed by Boncourt, Weyle and Alexandre. Thus, Alexandre’s opponent, when he first went to play the Turk, must have been either Mouret, Weyle or Boncourt. The other accounts do not mention Mouret (who directed the Turk later in London). While I cannot be sure, it seems more likely that Alexandre would have achieved a 2-1 score against Weyle than against Boncourt. Other accounts make it clear that Boncourt was significantly stronger than either Weyle or Alexandre. So I have assumed that Alexandre’s opponent was Weyle, and have placed it in 1818, though the Paris exhibition of the Turk began in the autumn of 1817, according to Harkness and Batell (see Levitt, p.44).
In 1818, Hyacinthe Henri Boncourt (1765-1840) was the operator of the Turk automaton for a brief time. During one period when he was hidden inside the Automaton, he caught the flu and his performance was poor. While he was hiding inside the Turk, due to the flu, he was seized by coughing and the sound was perceived by the spectators, creating a certain embarrassment to Mälzel (the Turk owner). For this reason, Mälzel, subsequently, added some noisy gears to the Turk, which had no other purpose but to cover any noise that could come from the operator.
In 1818, an Oxford graduate wrote Observations on the automaton chess player in London.
In 1820, Chess: A selection of 50 games from Those Played by the Automaton Chess-Player was written by W. J. Hunneman. He occasionally acted as a director of the Turk in England.
In January 1821, Robert Willis (1800-1875) published a pamphlet called An Attempt to Analyse the Automaton Chess Player, about a hidden operator in The Turk in The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal.
Weyle vs. Saint-Elme-le-Duc 1—0, 0—1, 1—0 (Paris 1824)
Saint-Elme-le-Duc describes in Le Palamède (1845, pp.28-29) his first encounters at the Café de la Régence, in which ‘Velles’ (‘le Petit Juif’, i.e. Weyle) gave him Rook odds and beat him 6 games on each of his first two evenings there. He goes on to describe how over the next weeks and months he gradually improved until Weyle could only give him Knight odds and Pawn and two Move odds, alternately. He gives no dates but says that this was about 20 years before he was writing (1844) and during a period when both de Saint-Amant and ‘Mulhouse’ (Schlumberger) were there. De Saint-Amant first started playing there around 1823 (according to George Allen in Fiske’s book, p.438, and to de Saint-Amant himself in Le Palamède, 1845, p.86), and Schlumberger left in Oct. 1826 (Fiske, p.439). I guess, therefore, that Saint-Elme-le-Duc started in 1824.
On February 3, 1826, Johann Maelzel landed in New York from Havre with the Automaton called the Turk.
On April 13, 1826, the Turk automaton was first exhibited by Johann Mälzel in the United States, in New York City. It was exhibited in the assembly room of the National Hotel, 112 Broadway. Admittance was 50 cents. The first operator was a Frenchwoman. There were about 300 spectators on the first day (source: The Wilmingtonian and Delaware Advertiser, April 20, 1826). Mälzel’s exhibition slowly grew in popularity. There were many newspaper stories about the Turk, as well as anonymous threats of exposure of the secret on how it played.
In May 1826, Johann Mälzel, the owner of the Automaton Chess-Player, held a New York charity exhibition with The Turk and raised $128.50. The money was given to the Association for the Relief of Respectable Indigent Females. (source: New York Evening Post, May 31, 1826)
On September 13, 1826, the Turk automaton was first exhibited in Boston. It only played endgames.
On November 17, 1826, a poem entitled “Address to the Automaton Chess Player,” appeared in the New England Galaxy. It was written by Hannah F. Gould.
On December 22, 1826, The Turk arrived in Philadelphia. On December 26, 1826, the Turk automaton chess-player was exhibited at the Masonic Hall on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. (source: http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-397)
In February 1827, the first chess club in Philadelphia was formed after the Turk (Maelzel’s Automaton) visited the city. Over 100 members enrolled themselves in the chess club in the first week of formation. By 1830, the club was disbanded due to lack of members.
In May 1827, another chess automaton, the Walker Chess-player, made its appearance. It was created by Daniel Walker of Baltimore, Maryland. It was made to compete with The Turk. Johann Mälzel viewed the competing machine and attempted to buy it for $1,000 just to tear it up, but the offer was declined.
In June 1827, another chess automaton, built by Phineas Bennet (1790?-1857) and Joseph Burit from Ithaca, New York, which went on display in New York City. It played chess, but not as well as The Turk. (source: Fayetteville Weekly Observer, June 7, 1827 and Newbern Sentinel (NC), July 14, 1827) Johann Maezel later challenged to have his Turk play this new automaton for $200 a game. (source: Long Island Star, June 14, 1827)
On June 1, 1827, the Baltimore Gazette revealed how the Turk operated with a hidden operator. The newspaper later reported that two individuals came out of the Turk, one age 15 and one age 19. (source: Wilmingtonian Advertiser, June 21, 1827)
On June 1, 1827, Charles Carroll (1737-1832), age 89, played The Turk (Schlumberger) in Baltimore and won. He was the only living survivor of all the signers of the Declaration of Independence. (source: Elizabeth City Intelligencer (NC), June 2, 1827)
In 1833, The Turk automaton was exhibited in Pittsburgh. The proceeds of the last evening was given to charity.
In 1834, Jacques Mouret (1787-1837), former operator of the Turk, probably sold the secret to a magazine (Le Magasin Pittoresque, p. 155). It was the first authentic revelation of the Turk. The article, written anonymously, was called “Automate Joueur d’échecs.” The same magazine had an article on the so-called Charlemagne chess set (pp. 14-16).
In 1835, the Turk automaton chess-player was exhibited in New Orleans.
In 1835, Charles Godfeey Gumpel (1835-1924), builder of the Mephisto automaton, was born in England.
In February 1835, an article that appeared in Bell’s Life stated, “Little doubt now exists that Maelzel’s Automaton Chess Player was conducted by a man seated inside, who looked over the board through the dress waistcoat of the figure. It was the greatest hoax ever known, and is still exhibiting to the Yankees of Boston with ‘almighty’ success.” (source: Bell’s Life, Feb 1, 1835)
Mr. Potter of Yale College, in a temperance address lately at New Haven says: “My heart bleeds as I remember the fate of three of my early companions who started in life with myself. One of them possessed the finest mathematical mind I ever knew. …He was the first man in America that beat the Automaton Chess Player, and he told me he had every move in his head before he even entered the room. That man now fills a drunkard’s grave…” – Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jul 15, 1845
On October 31, 1845, the first private exhibition of Walker’s Automaton was given in New York. The concealed player was Charles Henry Stanley. The Automaton’s first opponent was Mr. Zerega, who lost.
On July 5, 1854, The Turk chess automaton was destroyed by fire in the Chinese Museum (formerly Peak’s) in Philadelphia.
In 1858, Robert Houdin (1805-1871) wrote a chapter in his magic book about chess Automata.
In Jan 1875, J.N. Maskelyn exhibited an automaton chess player called Psycho.
An automaton of wonderfully clever construction is on exhibition in London, and is exciting more wonder that did Baron Kemplen’s famous chess player. In this instance the concealment of a dwarf, or a legless man, inside the apparatus is shown to be impossible. The figure, which is a mass of wheels and springs, plays whist with skill, and figures out simple arithmetical problems. It is placed on a table with a glass top, so that it seems to be totally disconnected with whatever agency controls its intelligent movements. Its owner is amassing a fortune by exhibiting it, and men of considerable scientific repute are trying, thus far in vain, to discover the trickery. — Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Mar 16, 1875
In 1876, the Mephisto automaton was first exhibited at Westminster Aquarium in London.
In 1878, the Mephisto automaton, constructed by Charles Godfrey Gumpel (1835-1921), made its first appearance.
The celebrated automaton turbaned chess player from the London Crystal Palace is now on exhibition at the New York Aquarium. A private exhibition was given to members of the press on Saturday, and the experiments tried in testing the skill of the automaton were very interesting… — Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jan 28, 1878
In 1879, Richard A. Proctor showed that while it is theoretically possible to construct a chess-playing automaton, it is practically impossible because the machine would necessarily be so enormous and complicated there would scarcely be room on the earth for it, and it could not be operated. Mr. Proctor thinks there will never be a chess automaton that can play a game unless there is “Life in other worlds than ours.” (source: The Times-Picayune, Aug 5, 1879)
In 1885, the Ajeeb automaton made its debut in the United States (New York).
…The chess automaton at the Eden Musee continues to defeat every chess player who meets him at the board. The expense of playing with the automaton in twenty cents after you have entered the Musee, ten cents for admission to the little room where he sits and ten cents for every game played – seventy cents in all. The mad hidden inside is a very fine player. — Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Dec 20, 1885
Mr Perrin of the Danites Club has tried his skill in 8 games with the Automaton chess player at the Eden Musee, and has won 3, lost 3 and 2 were drawn. Mr. Hanham has defeated the Automaton player 4 times. — Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Mar 7, 1886
In July 1887, Frederick Viewig, manager of the Eden Musee in New York, was arrested for having violated the Sunday law by exhibiting wax figures, permitting music to be played, and also by allowing Ajeeb, the chess automaton, to play a game of chess. He responded, “I consider it absurd to contend that a playing a game of chess or looking at was figures was a violation of the Sunday law.” Mr Viewig had to pay $100 for bail.
Mr. Frederick Viewig, manager of the Eden Musee, in Twenty-third street, New York, was arraigned this morning at Jefferson Market Court. He was arrested…on the complaint of Mr. Charles Brooks. He accused Mr. Viewig of having violated the Sunday law by allowing to be exhibited was figures and by permitting music to be played, and also by allowing Ajeeb, the mystifying chess automaton, to play the game. …Mr, Viewig was held in $100 bail. — Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jul 16, 1887
J. T. Welham, night manager of the Postal Telegraph Company, and formerly a member of the San Francisco Chess Club, succeeded yesterday in defeating the celebrated chess automaton at the Eden Musee. This is said to be the third time that the mysterious player has been defeated. — Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Feb 6, 1888
The gentleman who plays in the automaton box, and who is known as Ajeeb, is Mr. Charles A. Moehle, of St. Paul, Minn., and he stood fourth in last week’s Cincinnati tourney. His task in representing the automaton figure at the Eden Musee, is a very difficult one, inasmuch as he is cooped up within a wax figure and its draperies, divested of most of his clothing, without a chance to stretch himself, and for three hours twice a day, with only a partial view of the chess board before him, and that obtained only through a masked peep hole. — Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sep 16, 1888
After the 6th American Chess Congress was over, there was no money left for the non-prize winners. Taubenhaus of Paris was left destitute, having spent all his money he had to live on during the two months of the tourney. He received a cable dispatch from Paris to return and help manipulate the automaton Mephisto for 100 francs a week. But Taubenhaus had no money to buy a ticket for a ship leaving for Europe. He asked the tournament committee for $25 to enable him to secure at least a steerage passage, but the request was refused. (source: New York Times, May 24, 1889)
In 1890, El Ajedristica, the first true automaton, was built by Torres y Quevedo. It was able to play rook endgames.
In September 1890, the automaton Ajeeb was at the Mechanics’ Institute Fair in San Francisco. It took on all comers in chess and checkers. It was also exhibited at the State Fair at Sacramento.
In 1893, Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) wrote a short story called Moxon’s Master. It was first published in his 1893 short story collection Can Such Things Be? (and reprinted in 1909). It appeared in the San Francisco Examiner newspaper on April 16, 1899. It is one of the first descriptions of a robot in English literature. The story describes a chess-playing automaton or robot that murders its creator, Mr. Moxon. The unnamed narrator converses with Moxon at his house, who is playing chess with his robot. The narrator leaves, but later returns to the house and finds that Moxon wins the chess game with a checkmate and the automaton strangles him in an apparent fit of rage.
Automaton story of the smoking amateur. … — Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Mar 4, 1893
In 1898, Charles Moehle (1859-1898) died. He was an American chess master and was one of the operators of the chess automaton Ajeeb.