When von Kempelen decided to build his marvel (after a promise to Empress Maria Theresa to astound her), he had to find a way to direct the actions of the automaton. But what was the secret behind this machine that dazzled royalty and astounded the court machinicians? Robert Lohr devises a tale for The Turk full of intrigue and heartbreak in his novel, The Chess Machine. The Turk was eventually retired, sold, and was destroyed in a fire at Peale’s Chinese Museum in Philadelphia in 1854. In 1808, it played its most famous foe, Napoleon Bonaparte. Built for the amusement of Empress Maria Theresa of Hungary, it played chess, the game of kings, against rulers and commoners alike. It was a true marvel of the times - a machine, built after the fashion of a Turkish ruler, that was capable of thought. The Turk, a chess-playing automaton built by Wolfgang von Kempelen, was defeating chess masters across Europe. In the late 18th century, a fabulous new scientific oddity was the toast of Europe.
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