The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth Century Chess Playing Machine

286 Pages·2002·5.236 MB·English

by  Tom Standage

THE TURK
ALSO BY TOM STANDAGE
ThNeep tunFei le
ThVei ctoIrinatne rnet
THE LlFE AND TIMES OF THE
FAMOUS EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
CHESS-PLAYING MACHINE
TOM STANDAGE
WALKER &C OMPANY
NEWYORK
Copyri©g h2t0 0b2yT omS tandage
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ISBN0 -8027-1391-2
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BOOK DESIGN BY RALPH FOWLER
VisWiatl ke&r C ompanyW'esb sitaetww w.walkerbüoks.com
Printientd h eU niteSdtt ae osf Am erica
109 8 7 6 5 4 32
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CONTENTS
PREFACE xi
CHAPTERO NE
CHAPTERT wo
CHAPTERT HREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTERS IX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTERN INE
149
CHAPTERT EN
CHAPTERE LEVEN
CHAPTERT WELVE
NOTES 249
SOURCES 255
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 2fu
INDEX 263
x
PREFACE
Autom(afrtooamnm o'se,alf, n ¡.da.t. ú>t,os eiazs ee)lf-:m ogmvi anchoirn e,
onienw hitchhpe r inocIim poIteii oscno ntawiintehtdihm nee chaintis­m
seAlf.c cogrt doti hndiess cridopctwkiasot,nc ,ah neadsl m !a chionIase ism i­
lakri nadr aeu tombautttah ,we o ridsg e neraaplp!lyti oce odn trivances
whiscihm uIloaartt iemt ehm eo tiooIan nsi mlaifle.
-EncyclopBrerdiitaa nInlitechda i,t (i9IoInl )
na na utudmaniy n1 7 6W9o,l gfanvgo Knem pe­
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leant ,h yi-rfityvaeer--Houlndg acriivasine­l r
vna,t wsausm motnoet dhi em pieacrlo uirnt
VienbnyMa ar iTah eerseam,pe rsosfA ustriar-ytH,o u nga
wintestsh pee forrmanocfae v itsiinFgr encjhru ocro.n
Kempelweanws e lvle risnep dhy simcesc,h aannihdcy s­,
draualniwdca sas,t russteerndvt a tohefem persSsh.e had
ivnitheidom n a w hibme casuhsee watons teweehd a atn
xi
PREFACE
epxerin ts cniteimfiatct ers mwakoeou flt dhc eo jnruor's
tirc.kY setth pee orrfmanwcaest oc hantghece o urse of
KempelleeiI.nfst 'e sit nm otiaoc n�hi no f evenltesd that
himt oc onstarneu xcttr aomradcinhneaia:mr eyc hiacnal
mand,er ssienda no iretnaclo stu,ms eeatbeedh ian d
woodecna btia,nn ecda bplaoefp laycihne.gs s
Att htei ,me elbaotrema ehcanitcoaywlse raep opular
formo fe ntertaiintn hcmeoe tunosrtf E urpoet,h outghhe
tcehnoltohgeeyym bioedwda sso otnob ep uttom oers eir­
ouuss eSsoK. em peliennt ehnidcseh de ss-mpaIhcaiynien g
to ldiotm tolrteeh aanm utshece o uarntad d vahniccsea ­
rebeyri mpsrnsegit heemp ersBsu.it n stheiaasud t omaton
unepxcetdelwye notn atcoh iweivdee sfpmareet ahdr ough­
ouEtu ropeA meaicnrabd,r inKgemipnegl beohntt riumph
andde asipDru.ir nigte si ghty-cfiaevreet-rhy aeeu atro ma­
towna ass socwiiatathh eo dso tfh istofirgiuscri,ean lc lud­
inBge jnmainF ran,kC laitnhetrhiGenr eae tN,a poleon
Bonaarp,tC eharlBebasb a,ga enEddg ar APloel.Iawt na s
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manlye geanndodsu trfiargbhitco anttsih,te r utmha noyf
ofw hichn ewvibelekrl n owTnh.e cphIe sasy erfca tw,a s, in
desttiobn eecdo mem otsfhtmae o uasu tomianht iosnt ory.
Anda lotnhgwe a yK,em pelsew no'rw ko uludn wittingly
heltpoi nsptihdreee ev lopmoefn tpt ohwee1 0r0m ,t he
telep,th hoceno empu,a tnetdrh dee tievscettr oy.
Tom odeerynse i,n a ne rwah eintt a kaes su percom­
putteodr ee fatthw eo rclhde cshsa mpiistoe ne,m s obvious
xii