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Maelzel's Chess-Player
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. He was born to a Scots-Irish family in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. The family travelled to England in 1815, and Edgar sailed with them. He attended the Grammar School in Irvine, Scotland for a short period in 1815, before rejoining the family in London in 1816. He studied at a boarding school in Chelsea until the summer of 1817. Best known for his tales of the macabre and mystery, Poe was one of the early American practitioners of the short story and a progenitor of detective fiction and crime fiction. He is also credited with contributing to the emergent science fiction genre. His works have had a broad influence on American and world literature (sometimes even despite those who tried to resist it), and even on the art world beyond literature. The scope of his influence on art is evident when one sees the many and diverse artists who were directly and profoundly influenced by him.
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1836
7 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,853 books28.4k followersThe name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 26, 2020
Librettino che ho preso dopo aver letto La regina di scacchi di Tevis. Ormai immerso negli scacchi, insieme ad un manuale molto corposo sugli scacchi, mi son preso pure questo piccolo saggio su un Automa che fu oggetto di curiosità e fama nel XVIII e XIX secolo. Poe ne esamina la struttura, scorporandolo pezzo per pezzo per sfatare il mito. Risultato, una lettura evitabile, di certo da Poe mi sarei aspettato molto, molto di più...
March 20, 2021
This story was a hoot. I kept thinking about old Scooby Doo episodes while I was listening to it.
December 15, 2016
I never knew that Poe could be so descriptive. Yes, obviously he's good at horror, suspense, mystery, and describing many things plot and character-related, but this is my first exposure to what a Poe essay looks like. And...it's just as you'd expect it to be: in essay format, but with a literary twist.
Essentially, Poe is describing an automated chess player that, although shown to the audience to be "purely mechanical" nevertheless attracted much awe and attention, given that the Turk, as it was called, was extremely hard to beat at chess. With today's modern technology, the Turk would not be considered a marvel by any means, but in the past, it's understandable how it could have been. Myself, my first exposure to this "phenomenon" was through Poe's essay of it.
The only reason that I give it only 3 / 5 stars actually has to do with the fact that, doing further research, I've discovered that Poe's hypotheses are wrong, and elaborate description, no matter how convincing, doesn't amount to much once it's proven false.
Overall, a so-so read, not one of Poe's best or anything, but worth checking out once if only to be exposed to more of the man's talent of description.
Essentially, Poe is describing an automated chess player that, although shown to the audience to be "purely mechanical" nevertheless attracted much awe and attention, given that the Turk, as it was called, was extremely hard to beat at chess. With today's modern technology, the Turk would not be considered a marvel by any means, but in the past, it's understandable how it could have been. Myself, my first exposure to this "phenomenon" was through Poe's essay of it.
The only reason that I give it only 3 / 5 stars actually has to do with the fact that, doing further research, I've discovered that Poe's hypotheses are wrong, and elaborate description, no matter how convincing, doesn't amount to much once it's proven false.
Overall, a so-so read, not one of Poe's best or anything, but worth checking out once if only to be exposed to more of the man's talent of description.
December 18, 2015
Invenţia tehnică ce a pus pe jar fizicienii din secolul XVIII. Citind-o, mi-a pus la încercare spiritul de observaţie, făcându-mă să "disec" şi să fiu sceptic...
August 20, 2020
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts into a haiku:
"The stage might be swapped,
The magician's art reworked,
The critics wont change."
"The stage might be swapped,
The magician's art reworked,
The critics wont change."
December 8, 2020
"Essay by Poe that appeared in the April 1836 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger. The title refers to a device that purportedly used an automation dressed in Turkish clothing to play chess against human opponents. A traveling confidence man named Johann Nepomuk Maelzel perpetrated the hoax. Before focusing on the device in the title, Poe reviews other 'automata,' or mechanical wind-up toys, including a coach invented my M. Camus for the amusement of the child, Louis XIV, the Magician of M. Maillardet, and the duck of Vauacanson, 'so perfect an imitation of the living animal that all spectators were deceived.' Among these wonders, Poe includes the 'calculating machines of Mr. Babbage,' the precursor of modern computers, 'which cannot only compute astronomical and navigational tables to any given extent, but render the exactitude of its operations mathematically certain through its power of correcting its possible errors.' Before exposing the hoax of the chess-player, Poe first exposes Baron Wolfgang Von Kempelen as the inventor of the automation chess-player in 1769, and informs readers that it was exhibited throughout the United States by Johann Nepomuk Maelzel. The chess-player was built to make it appear that a mechanical man were playing chess games with humans and beating them, but the contraption actually contained a human being inside who operated it. In the process of his exposé, Poe analyzes the steps that are followed in a game of chess and concludes that the nature of the game requires human intervention, 'the only question then is the manner in which human agency is brought to bear.' Poe than delineates the steps that Maelzel followed in introducing the chess-player to the audience and recounts the mechanical sounds that are heard when Maelzel activates an automation seated at a chessboard. Poe exposes the hoax by observing that the chess-player played each game with his left arm only, and he lists 17 sequential points to support his deductive methodology." Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z : the essential reference to his life and work. New York: Checkmark Books. (146)
Well my dear Poe you certainly practiced what you preached. By following your theory of ratiocination you unveiled Maelzel's hoax. Your character Dupin would be so proud of you. And as the old adage states it takes one to know one, so who better to expose a hoaxer than another hoaxer.
NOTE
Watch this YouTube clip The Chess Turk explained which unravels the mystery. Poe was right there was a human inside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tvla...
Well my dear Poe you certainly practiced what you preached. By following your theory of ratiocination you unveiled Maelzel's hoax. Your character Dupin would be so proud of you. And as the old adage states it takes one to know one, so who better to expose a hoaxer than another hoaxer.
NOTE
Watch this YouTube clip The Chess Turk explained which unravels the mystery. Poe was right there was a human inside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tvla...
June 20, 2018
Come to find out, this isn't a story. It's actually a real essay Poe wrote about a modern story in his era. This guy really was traveling around with this automated chess player.
While the topic wasn't that interesting to me, and Poe was quite long-winded (surprise, surprise), I gave it three stars because it was clearly written and mostly easy to read.
There was a part with a bunch of doors which was very long and confusing. It was like the worst game of "what's behind door #3?" ever played. But, that was the only part I really struggled with.
In my mind, this is one of Poe's better written pieces, if not the most exciting.
While the topic wasn't that interesting to me, and Poe was quite long-winded (surprise, surprise), I gave it three stars because it was clearly written and mostly easy to read.
There was a part with a bunch of doors which was very long and confusing. It was like the worst game of "what's behind door #3?" ever played. But, that was the only part I really struggled with.
In my mind, this is one of Poe's better written pieces, if not the most exciting.
November 25, 2023
Still a boring story, but bonus points for the originality of the concept
January 5, 2023
Un questo piccolo saggio Poe analizza un automa che aveva fatto scalpore verso fine del ‘700, descrivendolo pezzo per pezzo, al fine di svelarne il mistero. Narrazione molto più descrittiva e piatta di quello che mi aspettavo. Sono rimasta quasi più interessata dalla préface, divisa in « automi » e « androidi » che dal saggio che la segue, il quale riprende la descrizione del giocatore di scacchi già letta nella préface, approfondendola.
Préface intéressante, saggio evitabile.
Préface intéressante, saggio evitabile.
June 28, 2015
I randomly read "Maelzel's Chess Player", not knowing it was an essay rather than a short story.
I found Poe's musings on the feasibility of artificial intelligence fascinating, given that it was written in the 19th century. Some of the same debates were still alive when Deep Blue beat Kasparov more than a century later.
But then when it came down to Poe's points of argument, it became very dry, tedious, and not always convincing. And I began to realize that there was not going to be a woeful victim tragically trapped in the automaton, left to go mad and then starve or suffocate. Should I spoiler alert that?
I found Poe's musings on the feasibility of artificial intelligence fascinating, given that it was written in the 19th century. Some of the same debates were still alive when Deep Blue beat Kasparov more than a century later.
But then when it came down to Poe's points of argument, it became very dry, tedious, and not always convincing. And I began to realize that there was not going to be a woeful victim tragically trapped in the automaton, left to go mad and then starve or suffocate. Should I spoiler alert that?
March 6, 2014
Opening: Perhaps no exhibition of the kind has ever elicited so general attention as the chess-player of Maelzel.
Bad choice of material, however t's done and dusted.
NEXT!
(I have read a good fiction of this machine and a dwarf)
May 20, 2025
An non-fiction essay (not a story) by Edgar Allen Poe focused on debunking “The Mechanical Turk”. (Poe did however write a tale based on the creator of The Mechanical Turk, which is called “Von Kempelen and his Discovery”.)
“The Mechanical Turk” also called “The Automaton Chess Player” or just “The Turk”, was a travelling exhibition of an apparent ‘automaton’ which had the ability to beat almost anyone at Chess (including Napoleon and Benjamin Franklin!).
The automaton was originally created by Wolfgang Von Kempelen, and was later obtained and exhibited by Johann Maelzel. Poe saw The Turk’s abilities whilst it was in the hands of Maelzel, and this article is his attempt to explain the illusion and provide evidence for his theory.
Poe was ultimately incorrect about how the automaton illusion worked (he believed the man secretly operating the machine sat inside the automaton’s body but in reality the man stayed within the box below) but this essay is really fascinating and I enjoy the way he addresses every inconsistency and fully plots out his own theory.
I would highly recommend reading the wikipedia article on The Mechanical Turk (or at least looking at the photos if you don’t want spoilers!) before reading this essay so you have a proper understanding of how the machine looked.
This is unintentionally actually a really important piece of work in terms of preserving the history of The Turk and of automatons more generally. Sadly the automaton was destroyed in a fire so Poe’s in depth descriptions serve as a good historical account of a typical exhibition and the machine’s composition, at least from an audience’s perspective.
Personally I absolutely love reading about obsolete/primitive tech , and automatons have a really gothic feel to me so this was right up my alley. I did also recently watch a documentary on the history of animatronics which had a section on the chess player so I think knowing the background made me like this a lot more than I otherwise would have.
Overall I loved this and it was a really strong start for Poe’s non-fiction works. I think I might also go back and read Von Kempelen and His Discovery too so I can fully appreciate it!!
May 1, 2022
A fantastic use of reasoning to find that The Turk was operated by a human. Poe also attempts to divine how it was operated. He is successful in the first instance, going even so far as to guess the man who operated it under the tenure of Maelzel; however, he was wrong about the specifics of operation. Indeed, he was fooled by some of the machine's guile. For example, he perceived that magnets were put near the machine upon request, and thus supposed that the machine must not be magnet-operated (or otherwise the magnet would break it). This was false: the means by which the interior operator divined the chess board was through magnets. The original designer of the machine made precautions, however, to make sure that magnets exterior to the machine would ineffective in hampering this clever ruse.
Poe is right in claiming that the machine was made specifically to appear robotic, I suppose. The chunky movements, the non-realistic face, etc., all were part of the effect--the effect that the mere fake machinery was meant to embody, too.
Poe is right in claiming that the machine was made specifically to appear robotic, I suppose. The chunky movements, the non-realistic face, etc., all were part of the effect--the effect that the mere fake machinery was meant to embody, too.
February 16, 2025
An essay by Edgar Allen Poe. I try my best when reading books and articles from years ago to put myself into the shoes of those who are reading these items and try as best as I can to understand how they must have felt. Maelzel's Chess player is such a prime example. This essay is a perception by Poe, although there is no evidence that he himself attended a show. Which wouldn't be strange at all if one is familiar with Poe's other writings. It actually fits rather well. But would tend to only deepen the curiosity of the readers. Just imagine how fascinating it must've been reading about a machine that could play chess. Of course Poe has to try his level best to disprove any such an idea and this is what the entire essay is about, The dismantling of Maelzel and his famous chess player. First Poe makes many bold points and then sets out giving an explanation for each . I should wonder what Mr. Poe would think of the world today, he'd probably think us all mad.
September 22, 2025
Not a story per se, rather a bunch of theories, explanations and speculations about an invention. I expected something else from the master of horror... The chess-playing automaton could have been such a good source of inspiration for a gloomy story
(eg. A guy becomes obsessed with the automaton. Frustrated because the mechanical dude beat him every single time, he decides to "kidnap"the automaton and throw it off a cliff. The following night he starts hearing weird mechanical sounds and the sound of chess pieces being moved. The "ghost" of the "murdered" automaton starts haunting him, driving him insane. There's an idea! I might use it myself since I'm a writer.😃)
(eg. A guy becomes obsessed with the automaton. Frustrated because the mechanical dude beat him every single time, he decides to "kidnap"the automaton and throw it off a cliff. The following night he starts hearing weird mechanical sounds and the sound of chess pieces being moved. The "ghost" of the "murdered" automaton starts haunting him, driving him insane. There's an idea! I might use it myself since I'm a writer.😃)
October 3, 2025
Meh.
Not worth reviewing.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1836] [10p] [Horror] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Meh.
No vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1836] [10p] [Horror] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Not worth reviewing.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1836] [10p] [Horror] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Meh.
No vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1836] [10p] [Horror] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Read
March 30, 2025Poe went for Maelzel's life. He went for his family seven generations hard. Poe went hard.
Just kidding, but really, were 30 pages necessary to explain all the 17 (SeVeNtEeN) reasons that it was fake? Seems a bit obsessive. But who am I to judge what people did for fun in the 1830s.
And then again, I spent an hour reading this instead of writing a thesis, so we all have our ways to cope. *finger guns*
Just kidding, but really, were 30 pages necessary to explain all the 17 (SeVeNtEeN) reasons that it was fake? Seems a bit obsessive. But who am I to judge what people did for fun in the 1830s.
And then again, I spent an hour reading this instead of writing a thesis, so we all have our ways to cope. *finger guns*
May 28, 2018
Ho letto questo libretto quasi "per caso" e non sapendo che si trattava di un saggio e non di un racconto del celebre scrittore.
E stato interessante scoprire che già nel 1836 si disquisiva sulla possibilità, anzi sull'impossibilità (con tanto di dimostrazione) dell'esistenza di automi intesi come "pure macchine".
E stato interessante scoprire che già nel 1836 si disquisiva sulla possibilità, anzi sull'impossibilità (con tanto di dimostrazione) dell'esistenza di automi intesi come "pure macchine".
May 14, 2020
I felt like I was reading instructions on how to do a magic trick. It may have been better to just put picture by picture instructions for most of this. I realize it’s an essay, but man, this was by far the most boring and hard to get through out of all of Poe’s works. (I have officially read his full collection.) Today is a happier day knowing I will never have to read this story again.
July 28, 2023
Impressively researched work, and fascinating description of a piece of ‘machinery’ that I’d never heard of before. I would love to have somehow been able to attend a performance- whether real or not, it sounds like it was a wonderfully executed piece of showmanship.
アランポー作者は本当に勉強したね。その時代にそんな機械は確かに魔法みたかった。よく頑張ったね！
アランポー作者は本当に勉強したね。その時代にそんな機械は確かに魔法みたかった。よく頑張ったね！
September 10, 2020
Somehow one of the longer EAPs with so little to say. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to take away from this one. Are we supposed to be impressed with the elaborate way a automated chess player was fake (assuming I even read the story correctly)?
September 11, 2020
Maelzel's Chess-Player
Edgar Allan Poe
A non-fiction essay about an automated chess player;
What would he say about nowadays AI?
It was descriptive to a mynute detail with outlandish outcome but proper for the times :p
Not my cup of tea though :/
Edgar Allan Poe
A non-fiction essay about an automated chess player;
What would he say about nowadays AI?
It was descriptive to a mynute detail with outlandish outcome but proper for the times :p
Not my cup of tea though :/
February 10, 2023
Un ensayo en el que el autor enumera pruebas con las que intenta exponer un falso autómata de su época, es un texto interesante que contiene aciertos y fallos pero que al final solo es una lectura anticuada y prescindible.
November 24, 2023
This is one of those that makes me think Poe would be a commentary youtuber or something in this time. I think he would love to debunk weird internet conspiracies idk. He would probably create them too. maybe he'd make analogue horror args lmao
January 26, 2021
Essay. Descriptive and a bit dry.
August 13, 2021
Deductions showing that an animatronic chess player is a hoax.
October 6, 2023
I just did not care enough about the chess machine mystery to listen to anyone try to solve it for this many pages. 1 star bc apparently it was a real conundrum everyone was traveling to see/solve.
January 13, 2024
booooring
January 16, 2025
Would’ve been delighted if he given us a quick detailed game within this story.
September 22, 2020
An interesting essay in advocacy of skepticism which should be read by all in this age of scientific ignorance and near infantile credulity e.g.s gravity waves, dark matter, string theory, and anthropogenic global warming.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews