How A Robot Scammed The World For 100 Years 

Crazy that they used to put humans into the bottoms of machines to cheat against top players then, and now they put machines into the bottoms of humans instead.

1:34 Napoleon was ahead of his time, foreseeing the way our overlord ChatGPT would reinvent the game of chess

Fun fact: when Edgar Allen Poe wrote about the Turk, he stated that a chess-playing automaton must always win. Dude was about 200 years ahead of his time, but he was right in the end.

Here's a funny coincidence: John Cochrane, the guy who keeps pushing his pawns in an ultra-classical way, actually unintentionally foreshadowed the whole hypermodern thing. He lived in India and played a bunch of games with Indian players who didn't necessarily believe in occupying the centre with pawns. His games with a guy named Moheschunder Bannerjee are some of the first recorded games that feature hypermodern play, including the first ever recorded Grunfeld Defense (obviously long before it was called that).

Fun fact: the opening 1. e4 e5 2. Qf3 is called the Napoleon Attack.

No AI will ever top the beautiful games we get to enjoy in GTE

levy is slowly on his transformation into a chess newsletter rather than a chess player.

Fun fact: Because of this "robot", in the German language the expression "something is turked (getürkt)" still exists today for something that is faked.

Well, technically, the Turk wasn't cheating... it was just lying about the wizard behind the "curtain."

DougDoug predicted the future of Gotham videos by having an entire video where Napoleon Bonaparte could cheat

The first actual "chess computer" was a purely mechanical device that had a board with just a KR vs K setup, where the mechanism would move the king and the rook to always checkmate the other king. It always made the same mechanical moves in each possible position, but technically speaking it was the kind of first ever genuine "chess computer", even if a completely mechanical one. Of course it took the advent of actual electronic computers before an actual chess computer using all pieces was possible.

"fake human" >looks inside >real human

Imagine being so good at chess you pretend to be a computer.

I love how Levy just casually roasts Napolean lmao

It has been scientifically proven that Levy is also an AI.

Fun fact: in german exists the word "getürkt" to describe things that should be fair (like a dice) but actually are disadvantageous towards you (like a dice with a tendency for one side). It is believed the word originates from the turk, but also other theories exist.

The funniest part is a century later the son of the owner confessed that the Turk was just a chess master hidden in a box.

1800s: Checking the "AI's Box" for a human 2020s: Checking the Human prison pocket for an AI

Napoleon when lost from the turk: "Theres nothing we can do".

What confuses me is that the bot was damned near undefeated against people who were presumably good players. You would think that a regular old guy just playing chess would lose occasionally, no matter how strong they are. It's not like Paul Morphy was in the box... I think.

"This is the dumbest AI I've ever seen in my life." And Martin took the personally.

plot twist: every AI is actually a human in a box

Hey Levy so glad to see these chess history videos again! They're my favorite videos of yours to rewatch, and I look forward to more.

Levy's initial struggle with poetry: "There is a fork, but it doesn't quite work."

2:25 holy shit thats why its called the Napoleon attack.

These histrocial chess videos are some of my favorite of the whole channel. Would love a series of interesting/intense/funny chess matches or incidents

I really like this kind of historical video, maybe you could do it for the world champs of the past or even guys like: Philodor, Andersenn, Steiniz, Lasker... It would be very entertaining I think

I think what’s also amazing is that whoever was inside that machine was on the level of the best Chess Players of that era. And had a consistent win streak. Who the heck was that guy playing those games?

Levy knew *exactly* what he was doing by finding a game with an AI and Napoleon Bonaparte. Well played. EDIT: THIS NAPOLEON CHEATED TOO?!?!?

Even Napoleon can’t escape Levy’s critique

I am technically better than Napoleon when playing chess.

Now I see why Qf3 is called Napolean Attack.....

i'm french and i like the way levy pronounces french words, he puts way more effort than most english speakers and it is often a very accurate pronunciation

After watching dougdoug seeing a game napolean actually played and HE ACTUALLY TRIED TO CHEAT is crazy

Stockfish evaluations are just Magnus watching all of our games simultaneously and providing the odds.

after successfully recreating almost if not all blunders from gotham's GTE in my own games I've decided imma save up and buy this man's course because my IQ is lowering with every game atm.

Fun fact: First ever created machine was a robot to assist in ablution made by Cezeri which is kind of a Turk (his story is complicated) he made that machine look like a human (which I think that is a robot instead of a machine) in 1206 but historians don’t think its a robot because its not working with electricity but literally water.

We've considered certain devices vibrating inside of various orifices to relay moves to players, but maybe Hans Niemann just has a stronger chess player up his butt.

In those days one cheated in chess by claiming it was a machine playing when it is actually a human. Nowadays one cheats in chess by claiming it is a human playing when it is actually a machine.

Props to Napoleon for playing the Napoleon attack opening

Just the mechanical systems that enabled the human to control the turk such that it could move pieces is already very impressive for 1770!

As an AI language model, i can confirm that ur activities will be successfully monitored by us in the future

Todays stare was kind of scared perhaps this is a lore mention that Gotham is still kidnapped? This is very interesting 10/10

It would be nice to do items from time to time about Grandmasters of the past and how they played. From Morphy to Capablanca.

I knew that story.. very fascinating! BTW, Levy, your french is getting better! Your latest trip to paris seemed to pay off! Le Café de la Régence, not easy at all! :D

fun fact: Napoleon Bonaparte is the one who literally CREATED scholars mate in chess, in arabic his name is the name of that strategy named "Napoleon's chess plan" in literal translation!!!

@gothamchess this is fantastic, I love these videos that combine chess history with game analysis

Now it’s turned into a actual chess bot

The secret of the Mechanical Turk was kept for over 50 years the machine was an elaborate illusion, and contained an ingeniously hidden compartment that housed a human operator. This hidden chess master could observe the position on the chessboard above, and manipulate the movements of the Turk.

John Cochrane was a strong player of his time, he's credited for the Cochrane defense in the engame Rook vs Rook +bishop

I suppose why they loved pushing their pawns Into the centre so much in the 1600 / 1700s is because chess represented a battlefield on a board, and the pawns were like foot soldiers on the front lines? So like in a real army (of the day) these will be at the forefront of a battle, it sort of resembles battles formations of strategies games I played based in the 1700s Edit: and so maybe it seemed logical to pre-computer analytic type thinking culture that if these structures work so effectively on the battlefield, then so too they must on the chess board,

I love these old chess/history videos

Fascinating - I like these kind of historical chess videos. Thanks @GothamChess!

It's quite funny to see napoleon try the scholar's mate. Here in Egypt the scholar's mate is known among locals as the napoleon. What a coincidence actually

Only og's remember the time Levy said he will make a video about the mechanical turk on the Gotham Games Channel

Back then, they accused engines of using humans. Today, we accuse humans of using engines. We are not the same

To be fair, the guy did more with his life than build this chess contraption :) "Kempelen also created a manually operated speaking machine.[4] An early version (possibly an original) can still be seen in the Musical Instruments section of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. In 1789, he published a book containing his nearly twenty years of speech research, Mechanismus Der Menschlichen Sprache Nebst Beschreibung Seiner Sprechenden Maschine.[5] He constructed steam-engines, waterpumps, a pontoon bridge in Pressburg (1770), patented a steam turbine for mills (1788/89) and a typewriter for Mozart's friend a blind Viennese pianist Maria Theresia von Paradis (1779), and built a theatre house in Buda (inaugurated 25 October 1790) (now Budapest) and the famous fountains at Schönbrunn in Vienna (1780). He was also a talented artist and etcher, wrote poems and epigrams, and composed a singspiel, Andromeda and Perseus, performed in Vienna." (Wikipedia) So he's quite similar to you Levy 😅mainly known for your entertaining chess content but also a talented singer and music producer. 😂 We're excited to find out what you'll add next to your legacy. 😉

The death stares at the beginning of Gotham's videos always send shivers down my spine.

Gotham, you should add this to the Chess History Playlist

I love your storytelling chess Levy. Keep it up

Read a novel centered around the Turk ages ago. Never knew how much of it was accurate.

Imagine future chess players (hundreds of years in the future) saying “back then they didn’t really know how to play chess back then”

My favorite videos of Gotham are the historical ones

and the museum sacrificed: the tuuuuurk

Lmao Ben Franklin hiding his loss is so on brand

13:50 “This is the dumbest AI I’ve ever seen in my life…” Martin: 😢

In 4:36 the best move is actually not Qg5 but Nf3+. If white takes the night then there is a mate in 2 with the Queen.

I really like these chess history videos even if the views are a bit lower. Keep em coming 🙏

Faraday's electromagnetic induction was from 1831 (generators and motors both depend on this). Static electricity and batteries existed before this but had not a lot of uses.

A big hand of applause for our new history teacher

As a man from 1800 I can confirm tuck was a hit

TYSM LEVY! I was waiting for this for so long!!!

The Turk would also do a blind knight's tour from a random starting square, which is pretty cool.

Fun fact: Napoleon's second move is called the Napoleon attack

Funnily enough thr scholars mate actually fits napoleans tactics well, trying to move around and end battles quickly amd everything

gotham, my bro loves your content! keep up the good work! i can't wait to read your book!

We beating stockfish with this one 🔥🔥🔥🔥🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🥶🥶🥶

Those eyes are looking straight at your blunders.

Fun fact: Wolfgang von Kempelen was actually born in historical Hungary and was thus Hungarian, and we know him as Kempelen Farkas (the Hungarian equivalent of his name) and we have a school named after him, he has a well known name here. He also was the inventor of several other machines, I recommend reading his wikipedia article, he was a cool guy!

OMG, when I learned chess as a 7 year old the teacher taught us scholar's mate and told us that the name of this mate is Napoleon' plan! The years went and I learned that it is actually called scholar's mate and thaught that the teacher just made the name up. Thank you Gotham for this video❤

the way levy pronounce names is the best thing in the video

The Fact that Napoleon is the greatest general to have ever lived doesn't seem to phase Levy

2:41 maybe this is why this oppening in called the Napelon Attack

btw the opening that napoleon bonaparte played is called "the napoleon attack" i wonder why...

The roasting of Napoleon is the best part of this video 😂

2:10 So that's why it's called Napoleon attack.

It is impressive that the secret was kept 80 years. Even David Copperfield tricks was revealed by someone who couldn't keep a secret. After that he revealed it himself.

Thank you Levy for the red circle in your thumbnail! I really had a difficult finding the AI in it as I was too distracted by your beautiful eyes.

Napoleon attempting a scholarsmate is way too telling

12:52 "this is the dumbest ai i've seen in my life. Martin : Hold my beer!

One primal space video, just one, and now my entire feed is just “The 100 year Chess Scam”!

Hey I know you’ve done this before but you should do another greatest chess matches of the past it would be very cool to see

Old chess player really like to be aggressive even when they are being attacked

Imagine people insulting magnus and stock fish in 2223

Man these old games are interesting!

This queen to f3 scholars mate is also known as napoleon variation Its his opening, he has all the rights to play it

The guy sitting in the box must be a strong player then

Atleast it left people raging

There is a Dr. Who episode with a similar concept for a chess ai.

11:42 "sounds silician lol"