
The automata Turkish
I’ve discovered a curious film Le joueur d’echecs where the Turkish appears on it, and I’ve extracted two very interesting fragments:
Von Kempelen presents the autòmata (3 min 26 seg)
Caterina II de Rússia VS The Turkish (4 min 35 seg)
Le joueur d’echecs (1926)
Directed by Raymond Bernard
Performers: Pierre Blanchar (Boleslas Vorowski), Charles Dullin (Von Kempelen), Edith, Jehanne (Sophie Novinska)
Music by Henri Rabaud
Length of the film: 1 h 35 min

Frames of the film


Kempelen began offering 500 rubbles to the person who win the automata. After some years he had won a lot of money. The automata suppose a monumental shame at that time, even thought personally I think that it was a wonder of the science, the shrewdness, the imagination and the fraud. He had got guts and got a fortune that was really deserved.
Kempelen exhibited the Turkish for the first time to the Maria Teresa de Austria court in 1770 where it caused great sensation. Afterwards he toured through Europa during 1780 decade. Some famous personalities such Napoleon Bonaparte (*), Benjamin Franklin and Caterina II of Russia where impeccability expired by the Turkish. But individuals such Philidor or Federic II of Prusia had won to the automata.

During the Turkish history had passed different chess players inside it. The first one was the Polish officer Worowski, who was a good player and beside he had also two amputated legs, so it was very easy to hide him inside the box. Afterwards the place was taken up by J. Allgaier, a high level Austrian chess player who had the privilege to be very afraid the day that defied Napoleon. Finally, it was Schlumberger, a fat man, who once was caught into the box and when he desperately asked for help the Turkish secret was discovered. The mystery ended definitely with the publication of the article “The chess player of Maelzel” signed by Edgar Allan Poe, where it proved in a strict way that the automata had a man inside it.

of good strategies in the game against the Turkish he didn’t get too much right answers.
I highly recommend a good
novel whose plot revolves
around the story of the Turk: