![]() ![]() The truth was simpler: the Turk did operate via a concealed operator, who controlled each movement from inside the cabinet by candlelight, pulling levers to operate the Turk’s arm and keeping track of the moves on their own board. Such outlandish stories, while entertaining, added unnecessary complications. Some believed that the concealed person stayed in the cabinet the whole time, using strings, pulleys, and magnets to execute the chess moves, while others thought the operator crawled up into the body of the Turk in order to control him. ![]() The cabinet measured four feet long, two-and-a-half feet deep, and three feet high-dimensions that encouraged people to speculate that short-statured people and children were the most likely candidates for the role of hidden Turk operator. The notion that someone was hiding in the cabinet was espoused frequently over the decades, with variations on the size of the hypothetical person as well as their positioning. ![]() His opinion took the Occam’s Razor approach, with a child-labor twist: He wrote in his pamphlet that the cabinet must be concealing “a child of ten, twelve, or fourteen years of age”-presumably one whose chess talents were prodigious. Thicknesse did not believe, as others did, that von Kempelen was directing the Turk’s gameplay from several feet away using strong magnets, stealthy strings, or remote control. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |