The Chess Machine [Paperback]

Robert Lohr (Author), Anthea Bell (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2008

In 1770, Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen introduces Vienna to the Mechanical Turk?an unbeatable chess-playing automaton that, unbeknownst to an astonished Europe, is in fact nothing more than an illusion. The Turk is actually operated from within by a God-fearing dwarf named Tibor, whose chess-playing abilities and diminutive size make him the perfect accomplice in this grand hoax. But when a seductive countess dies under mysterious circumstances in the presence of the Turk, the machine and its inventor become the target of espionage, persecution, and intrigue. Based on a true story, this celebrated debut is a daring piece of storytelling, brimming with lust, scandal, and deception.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

German writer Löhr resurrects a chess-playing automaton in his generously imagined debut novel. Set in 1770, Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen of Hungary, anxious to win the favor of Empress Maria Theresia, builds an engineering marvel: the Mechanical Turk, a chess-playing automaton. The Turk, though, isn't exactly as it seems; hidden inside is Italian chess prodigy (and dwarf) Tibor Scardenelli, hired by Kempelen to secretly control the contraption during its debut match in front of the empress. Tibor, a devout Catholic, is hesitant to partake in the scam and insists he will quit after the match. The game goes off without a glitch, but Court Mechanician Frederich Knaus is suspicious of the Turk and convinces his lover, Galatea, to spy on Kempelen. Tension mounts as the Turk gains notoriety and is requested to perform at a ball celebrating the union of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. Tibor agrees to a repeat performance (at a higher fee), but when a baroness is found dead after the match and traces of her rouge are found on the Turk, rumors of the "Curse of the Turk" spread and may be Kempelen's undoing. Though the narrative could use a light pruning, Löhr's eye for period detail and cast of eccentrics create an immersive and mirthful experience. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“ If you liked Perfume you’ll love it. . . . [The Chess Machine] will grip you from the very first page.”
—Harper’s Bazaar

“A promising debut.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“ Rich in detail and psychological depth . . . this is a work of such marvelously creative imagination that it makes little difference what’s factual and what isn’t—it all rings true.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“ Magnificent—a thinking man’s thriller brimming with politics both social and sexual.”
—Bookgasm --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143114360
• ISBN-13: 978-0143114369
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,544,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Light but enjoyable reading, September 29, 2007

By 

Joseph Davis (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Chess Machine: A Novel (Hardcover)

For some reason I was hoping this book would give me the kind of experience I got from reading Foucault's Pendulum, but The Chess Player doesn't resemble Eco's book in any way. In fact I was put off at first by the writing style (or is it the translation?) which I found to be flat, bland and simple. But the more I read, the more I got used to Lohr's style. As plain as it is, it does have the benefit of being relatively cliché-free. It is serviceable and tells the story without drawing unnecessary attention to itself. The story itself moves along at a good pace and keeps one hooked for a couple of reasons. Lohr starts the tale with a scene set in the future and one wonders how this scene (which continues in instalments throughout the book) relates to the rest of the story and, indeed, how it will turn out. The other, and more important, hook for me was -how can the inventor of the machine, Kempelen, possibly get away with his outrageous illusion over so many performances and under the scrutiny of the best minds of Europe? The characters are colourful, varied and engaging, and the setting and time (just before the French Revolution) are compelling. Lohr uses excellent attention to period detail to bring the setting and times to life. In the end the key to the story for me was not the success or failure of Kempelen's machine, it was the gradual revealing of his true character. Without this factor driving the action, I don't think there would have been much of a story. There aren't a lot of ideas discussed in this book. There aren't a lot of deep thoughts either. It's all a bit of an 18th Century soap opera actually, but it works. And of course it is based on the amazing true story of the Mechanical Turk (whose picture you can find on the internet. I found it helpful to check this out as I was reading the story.)

As someone interested in chess, as I suspect many who read the book will be, I would have liked to have had more about the actual chess scene in Europe at the time -players of note, styles of play, the general state of the game and how the Turk fit in. I would also have liked more details of the games played -openings, tactics, critical moves, etc. I know that the games in the book were fictional, but adding the above would have added verisimilitude to the story. If you read the book expecting to learn more about the Turk's more famous exhibitions in places like Paris or London, or of its encounters with famous people such as Napoleon or Benjamin Franklin, you will be disappointed. The action is almost all fictitious and takes place early in the Turk's life, a largely undocumented period and thus ripe for novelistic treatment.

This book would make a good movie if done with a proper budget and by a competent director. One wonders if it was written with that in mind.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Little Big Man, August 8, 2007

By 

Sam Sattler (Spring, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chess Machine: A Novel (Hardcover)

The Chess Machine is based on actual events that occurred during 1770 in Pressburg, what is today the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. During an era in which science and entertainment were still closely related, the Habsburg Empire became enthralled with Wolfgang von Kempelen's unexpected invention, a chess-playing automation that became known as the Mechanical Turk. This machine, fronted by a turban-wearing "mechanical Turk" who moved his own chess pieces with a life-like right arm and hand easily defeated the best chess players it encountered in exhibition matches around the empire.

Kemplen's invention brought him instant fame and seemed certain to also bring him his fortune. After all, he had invented the first machine that was capable of thought, a machine that could, in fact, think better than the human beings it encountered. But, as many of Kemplen's scientific rivals suspected, the Mechanical Turk was too good to be true. Rather than having created a thinking machine, Kemplen had instead built an automation that depended entirely on the chess-playing dwarf who was hidden inside the wooden box housing the useless clockworks that appeared to make the machine work.

Tibor Scardenelli, the Italian dwarf, hired by Kemplen to be the brains of his machine, is a remarkable chess player but he soon begins to tire of the secret life he is forced to live. Tibor comes to feel that he is living a prisoner's life, always locked away in one room of Kemplen's home or inside the chess machine itself. For the sake of keeping the illusion of a chess-playing automation alive, no one can be allowed to know of his existence. Despite Tibor's growing uneasiness with the scam that he is so large a part of, everything goes well for the chess machine until one of Kemplen's court rivals manages to place his lover, Galatea, into the Kemplen household as a spy. In time, Galatea, known to Kemplen as his house servant Elise, comes to know the truth.

But Kemplen and his team have bigger problems than Elise. After a performance at the ball celebrating the marriage of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, a young countess is found dead. There are no witnesses to her death but she has left traces of her rouge on the Turk's face, and many come to believe that the Turk has seduced and murdered the woman. Especially taken with this notion is the young woman's brother who is determined to take revenge on the Turk and its owner.

Much like one of his own chess pieces, Wolfgang von Kemplen soon finds himself being pushed into defensive moves that require more and more ruthlessness on his part. His Mechanical Turk comes to own him in a way that he never owned the Turk.

Robert Lohr's The Chess Machine is filled with the level of period detail and unforgettable characters that can make historical fiction so rewarding. But at the same time this is a novel full of adventure and psychological insights, one with a story that will stay with the reader for a long time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Light historical fiction, August 31, 2009

By 

F. Garcia "Fred" (Moon) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Chess Machine (Paperback)

Being an avid recreational and tournament chess player, I'm always interested in reading chess themed novels and non-fiction books. I ran across this title entering a book store as a hard-cover copy of it was in the front among new fiction releases. It immediately caught my attention and I grabbed it and saw that it was a fictionalized account of the Turk, the famous 18th century chess playing automaton that I was already familiar with as I had just read Tom Standage's outstanding non-fiction account of it. (The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-Century Chess-Playing Machine )

Anyway, I picked it up and decided to give it a shot. As I read through it, I found it to be rather plodding - in particular with comparison to the pace that I had experienced in Tom Standage's outstanding account of the Turk. Those unfamiliar with this story, might find it more enjoyable than I did. In all, it's decent light fictional fare, but I recommend Standage's book over this for pure entertainment value.