Automaton - The Chess Player of Maelzel Automaton, the chess player of Maelzel, is considered to be one of the greatest illusions in the art of magic. Maelzel got the machine, together with its secret of operation, from Baron Kempelen, who invented it in 1769. Some of the other wonderful automata include the punctiliously designed coach invented by M. Camus for the amusement of Louis XIV, the automatic answering magician of M. Maillardet and the duck of Vaucanson, which anatomically, was the most exact replica of a live duck. However, these machines, including even the Babbages Calculator, had a response in accordance with the given input. Therefore, the outputs being fixed and predetermined for each input, these machines could easily be envisaged. The chess player however, was different because, it had to play the game of chess, in which, there are no predetermined responses for a given move by the opponent. In each of his shows, Maelzel would elaborately show the insides of the Automaton to each of the spectators. He would leave every door of the various compartments of the machine open and make everyone completely believe that the machine was packed with just cogs and wheels, and that to even think of a man concealed inside it, would be an extremely preposterous idea. Somebody from the audience would be called to play as an opponent. During the game, one could hear the cogs and wheels churning and the Automaton would even roll its eyes sometimes and even pronounce the word echec (check). It would even sense and correct the wrong moves by the antagonist. Though victorious almost all the times, it had been beaten sometimes. But it is indeed a bit hard to digest that a pure machine could perform the task with such intricacy, it can therefore be said that some sort of human involvement in its working was imperative. Though many applied their heads, to uncover the mystery behind this machine, no one could offer a reasonable explanation as to how the machine worked. However, the observations published by Edgar Allan Poe, throw some light upon this mystery. He observed that the Automaton lacked regularity; it would only make a move once the antagonist had made his move (which could take any amount of time). Also, the head and the eyes of the machine moved only when the game going smooth and easy, and not in the complicated situations, showing that there was indeed a human brain at work inside the machine. The sound produced while winding of the Automaton, was such, that one could easily comprehend that the axis turned by the key couldnt possibly be connected with any system of machinery. Thus, the whole act of winding the machine was just a sham, to deceive the spectators. The size of the Turk was way more than that of an average human. This fundamental error was obviously an intentional one, incurred probably, in order to hide a human inside the Turks figure. The appearance of the whole machine is such that it looks like there is very little space between the cupboards, whereas, upon careful observation, one can make out that actually, there is enough space for a man to be hidden inside these cupboards. Also, it was clear that when trunk was thrown open for examination, certain portions of the mechanism changed their shape and position suspiciously; these undue alterations were attributable to mirrors in the interior of the trunk. If it were a true machine however, its inventor would have loved to show how simple its mechanism was, instead, here, mirrors were used to make the space look stuffed with various intricate mechanisms, so as to make it look more complicated. The interior of the main compartment is lined throughout with cloth, to absorb any sound made by human movements inside the machine, and to aid the entire process of shifting of partitions during the trick. Six candles, all of varying lengths were placed in front of the chest of the Turk's figure to shield the translucent material (probably made of gauze), which the Turks chest was made of, and, also to aid the person sitting inside to have a clearer view of the board. Lastly, a person named Schlumberoer could always be seen accompanying Maelzel everywhere he went for the show. It was noticed that this man would only be seen just before and shortly after the exhibition, and not in the middle of it, every time. Moreover, once, when Schlumberoer was taken ill, the show was even cancelled.All of the above observations, point to only one conclusion, that is, there indeed is a man (Schlumberoer) hidden inside the automaton, doing all the magic, and that in reality, the chess player is after all, not a pure machine.