The chess of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Turk

By Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

POLEON was a chess addict who played the game throughout his life. He played chess while still a boy, at college, in manhood, aboard a ship, in camp, in bivouac. He played while in Egypt, Russia, while in exile in Elba and finally on his final resting place on that lonely island in the Atlantic, St. Helena. He even said that he sometimes maps out his campaign based on certain positions of the pieces on the chessboard.

It has been said of him that “He was an able chess player and the human race was the opponent to whom he proposed to give checkmate.”

As a player he reportedly had bad manners. As an absolute monarch, he required all his friends to sometimes stand for five consecutive hours watching him play chess. He also became impatient if his opponent took a long time to make his move.

He was what is called a romantic player – an aggressive kind of play and fond of sacrifices. He was also sore and irritable in defeat although it is presumed that his favorite opponents would let him win just a little bit more.

Incidentally, scientists have refuted the story that Napoleon was murdered due to the high level of arsenic found in his hair. The experts believe that the emperor had absorbed the toxin over a long period of time from such things as ash, glue or wood fire and the like. Most experts agree that he died of stomach cancer. This will no doubt clear Count Charles de Montholon who was suspected of giving the poison.

In the early years of the nineteenth century, Napoleon was the most powerful person on Earth. He had taken almost all of Europe and was on his way to becoming the greatest conqueror of all time. This was also the height of the industrial revolution and all kinds of mechanical devices were invented including the flying balloon. If man can invent a machine to fly, why not a machine that can think?

This is where the “Turk” comes in. Invented earlier by Baron Wolfgang Von Kempelen, a genius of great renown in the field of mechanics, it was promoted as a chess-playing machine and all of Europe swallowed it line, hook and sinker, including Napoleon. He challenged the Turk to play against him.

As the whole court watched, he made a few illegal moves and the Turk shook its head every time. Napoleon laughed and they started to play. In the first game the Turk defeated him in 19 moves.

Napoleon placed a magnet on the chessboard before the second game because he had heard that the Turk relied on magnets for its operation, but the Turk still won. Before the third game, Napoleon wrapped a shawl around the Turk’s head and torso, thinking there might be an operator hidden inside.

But the Turk won a third time, at which point Napoleon swept the chess pieces to the floor and walked out.

At the conclusion of the games, the cabinet doors were opened to show that no one had crawled inside to operate the Turk. Audience reaction ranged from skepticism to amazement to sheer fright at such an unholy power.

The Turk itself was four feet long, three feet high and two feet deep and consisted of a large cabinet containing springs, pulleys, gears and wheels that looked like the inside of a clock, a chess board on top, and sitting on a chair at the back of the cabinet was the upper body of a figure draped in Oriental grab, wearing a turban, holding a long Turkish pipe in one hand and playing the game with the other.

It is considered as the most famous illusion in history.

Tabada Grand Prix Winner. In a battle among 12 qualifiers, Jobannie Tabada prevailed over the group to emerge Cepca 2004 Champion last Sunday at the Handuraw Learning and Leisure Café. He defeated Dante Arguelles in a nail-biting final match-up to win the championship trophy plus an Imarflex appliance set.

Third place went to Maggi Dionson while fourth was Mandy Baria and fifth Joe Atillo. All the winners won various kinds of Imarflex appliances.

In a side tournament, Victor Sepulveda won the Christmas tournament followed by second placer Bong San Pascual, Jun Olis and Gonzalo Tumulak. They also won appliances.

Among the tournament participants were Anders Berg and Roar Sorensen, who came all the way from Norway, and National Master Bombi Aznar. We were also honored by the presence of Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who accepted his certificate as honorary member of Cepca.

Merry Christmas to all!