– April 1838 in Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

) was a Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 master. He is known to have taught
Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant to play chess and as the operator of The Turk

The Turk

The Turk, also known as the Mechanical Turk or Automaton Chess Player , was a fake chess-playing machine constructed in the late 18th century. From 1770 until its destruction by fire in 1854, it was exhibited by various owners as an automaton, though it was exposed in the early 1820s as an...

, a chess-playing machine which purported to be an automaton

Automaton

An automaton is a self-operating machine. The word is sometimes used to describe a robot, more specifically an autonomous robot. An alternative spelling, now obsolete, is automation.-Etymology:...

. It was Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

n musician and showman Johann Nepomuk Mälzel

Johann Nepomuk Mälzel

Johann Nepomuk Maelzel [or Mälzel] was an inventor, engineer, and showman, best known for manufacturing a metronome and several music automatons, and displaying a fraudulent chess machine.-Life and work:...

 who hired him to operate The Turk

The Turk

The Turk, also known as the Mechanical Turk or Automaton Chess Player , was a fake chess-playing machine constructed in the late 18th century. From 1770 until its destruction by fire in 1854, it was exhibited by various owners as an automaton, though it was exposed in the early 1820s as an...

. Schlumberger acted as the Turk's director in Europe and in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 until his death from yellow fever

Yellow fever

Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....

 in 1838.

Biography

The main source of information on William Schlumberger life is Willard Fiske’s

Willard Fiske

Daniel Willard Fiske was an American librarian and scholar, born on November 11, 1831, at Ellisburg, New York.Fiske studied at Cazenovia Seminary and started his collegiate studies at Hamilton College in 1847. He joined the Psi Upsilon but was suspended for a student prank at the end of his...

 book of the first American chess congress and, in particular, the section dedicated to “The history of the Automaton Chess-Player in America”. The brief biography given below is, unless otherwise indicated, taken from that publication.

Schlumberger was born in Mulhouse

Mulhouse

Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...

, Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

, a region often fought over by France and Germany. He belonged to a wealthy family, and attained a very high education. He was considered very strong in Mathematics and he spoke not only French and German with which, as an Alsatian, he was equally familiar from childhood, but also in English. His own account of himself was, that he had entered upon the business life, for which he had been so carefully educated, in Paris, where he and his brother were put in charge of the dépôt of the family establishment at Mulhouse. He was thrown out of business by a commercial misfortune, and then he began to support himself by giving lessons in Chess at the Café de la Régence

Café de la Régence

The Café de la Régence in Paris was an important European centre of chess in the 18th and 19th centuries. All important chess masters of the time played there.The Café' masters include, but are not limited to:*   Paul Morphy...

. At the Café, he was one of the leading players, but was known there only by the name of Mulhouse a nickname given to him, probably, by Saint-Amant. When St. Amant, began to frequent the Café de la Régence

Café de la Régence

The Café de la Régence in Paris was an important European centre of chess in the 18th and 19th centuries. All important chess masters of the time played there.The Café' masters include, but are not limited to:*   Paul Morphy...

, about the year 1823, he found Mulhouse, capable of playing with La Bourdonnais

Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais

Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais was a French chess master, possibly the strongest player in the early 19th century.- Early life :...

 at no greater odds than the Pawn and move, and fully equal to Boncourt

Boncourt (chess player)

Boncourt was one of the leading chess player in France in the years between 1820 and 1840.-Short biography:Although he was one of the leading players of his time, not much is known about his life. His first name remains unknown, and the dates of his birth and death can only be estimated...

 and Mouret

Jacques François Mouret

Jacques François Mouret was a French chess master of the early 19th century and one of the operators of The Turk.-Brief Biography:...

. Therefore, the young St. Amant took chess lessons from him. Many years later, he gratefully acknowledged that to Schlumberger he owed his first initiation to chess.

The subsistence of Schlumberger, dependent solely upon his earnings as a Chess-teacher, was undoubtedly precarious. For this reason, he accepted the offer of Maelzel, the owner of The Turk

The Turk

The Turk, also known as the Mechanical Turk or Automaton Chess Player , was a fake chess-playing machine constructed in the late 18th century. From 1770 until its destruction by fire in 1854, it was exhibited by various owners as an automaton, though it was exposed in the early 1820s as an...

, to operate the Chess-Automaton during its tour in America for fifty dollar a month plus the travel expenses.
During the tour, however, there were some incidents that almost revealed the secret of the Automaton.
In Baltimore, two boys, secreted on a roof, saw the figure of Schlumberger come out of the machine. An article, "The Chess-Player Discovered," appeared in the Baltimore Gazette on Friday, June 1, 1827, exposing the matter.
Later, in Richmond, the Turk was observed by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...

, who later wrote his essay "Maelzel's Chess Player

Maelzel's Chess Player

"Maelzel's Chess Player" is an essay by Edgar Allan Poe exposing a fraudulent automaton chess player called The Turk, which had become famous in Europe and the United States and toured widely. The fake automaton was invented by Wolfgang von Kempelen in 1769 and was brought to the U.S...

" published in April 1836. He observed:

"There is a man, Schlumberger, who attends him wherever he goes, but who has no ostensible occupation other than that of assisting in the packing and unpacking of the automaton. This man is about the medium size, and has a remarkable stoop in the shoulders. Whether he professes to play chess or not, we are not informed. It is quite certain, however, that he is never to be seen during the exhibition of the Chess Player, although frequently visible just before and just after the exhibition. Moreover, some years ago Maelzel visited Richmond with his automata, and exhibited them, we believe, in the house now occupied by M. Bossieux as a Dancing Academy. Schlumberger was suddenly taken ill, and during his illness there was no exhibition of the Chess Player. These facts are well known to many of our citizens. The reason assigned for the suspension of the Chess-Player's performances, was not the illness of Schlumberger. The inferences from all this we leave, without farther comment, to the reader."

On November 9, 1837, Schlumberger and Maelzel sailed to Havana, Cuba. There, Schlumberger contracted Yellow Fever and died in April 1838.

Chess games

The previously quoted book of the first American chess congress describes Schlumberger as a rapid Chess-player, but not particularly strong in the endgame. It also adds some details about his opening repertoire:

When the Automaton adhered to its claim of the first move, the game was made a gambit; when the adversary had the move, Schlumberger invariably resorted to Mouret

Jacques François Mouret

Jacques François Mouret was a French chess master of the early 19th century and one of the operators of The Turk.-Brief Biography:...

's favorite defence of King's Pawn one

French Defence

The French Defence is a chess opening. It is characterised by the moves:The French has a reputation for solidity and resilience, though it can result in a somewhat cramped game for Black in the early stages...

—a Boeotian defence, thoroughly understood at the Cafe de la Regence—so often played afterwards by La Bourdonnais

Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais

Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais was a French chess master, possibly the strongest player in the early 19th century.- Early life :...

, so thoroughly detested by McDonnell

Alexander McDonnell

Alexander McDonnell was an Irish chess master, who contested a series of six matches with the world’s leading player Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais in the summer of 1834.- Early life :...

 In playing end-games, Schlumberger did not come off quite so well: he was sometimes beaten, although very seldom.

A very few and rare games of Schlumberger games survived, however. The following game, lost by the Automaton, is not particularly well played, but it has a certain historical importance being, possibly, the first published game by an American woman chess player. Here it is presented with the rather colourful and, for today standards, politically incorrect comments of C. H. Stanley

Mrs. Fischer - The Turk (Schlumberger)

Phildelphia, 1827

1. e4 e6 Most of our readers, we presume, are aware that the Automaton was a Turk; had he been a Christian, he surely would not have played "K. P. one" against a lady. 2. Nc3 d5 3. Qf3 Nf6 4. Bd3 An eccentric style of move, but by no means bad play under the circumstances 4...c5 His "Turkship" has not yet discovered the dexterity of his fair antagonist; expecting to achieve an easy
victory he considers it beneath his dignity to take care of his Pawns. 5. b3 Bd6 6. exd5 exd5 7. Nxd5 Nxd5 8. Qxd5 O-O 9. Bb2 Mrs. F. shows a thorough knowledge of the peculiar position under which her various Pieces will act most favorably. There is more natural genius displayed by her in the conduct of this game than is met with in by far the greater portion of the games which
come under our notice. 9... Nc6 10. a3 Be6 11. Qe4 g6 12. O-O-O Qd7 13. h3 Bf5 14. Qf3 Bxd3 15. Qxd3 Rae8 16. Nf3 a6 17. g4 b5 18. c4 We like the boldness and decision of Mrs. F.'s style of play; this is true Chess. Blue Beard will shortly make the unwelcome discovery that he has for once at least "caught a Tartar". If the ladies of his own country possessed the characteristics evinced by Mrs. F., their position would be far different from that which it now is. 18...bxc4 19. Qxc4 Rb8 20. Kb1 Qb7 21. Qc3 Threatening an immediate
checkmate. 21...Nd4 Badly played; his only chance to save the game would be to push King's Bishop's Pawn one square 22. Nxd4 Be5 Play as he will, he must now lose a Piece, as, should he take Kt. with Pawn, Mrs. F. would take Pawn
with Queen, and in order to avert the checkmate then threatened, it would be necessary to abandon the Bishop to his fate. 23. Qxc5 Bxd4 24. Qxd4 f6 25. Qc4+ Kg7 26. Ka2 Rfc8 27. Qa4 Rc2 28. b4 Qd5+ 29. Qb3 Qe4 30. Rhe1 Qc6 31. Rc1 Rxc1 32. Rxc1 Qd6 33. Rd1 a5 34. b5 a4 35. Qxa4 Qd5+ 36. Qb3 Qc5 37. d4 Qg5 38. a4 Qf4 39. Qg3 resigns. Never was better account rendered of Infidel and Saracen, on the sandy desert of his own soil, than is now given by the fair champion of Christendom of her unbelieving foe, on the chequered field of his own battle-ground.

Willard Fiske

Willard Fiske

Daniel Willard Fiske was an American librarian and scholar, born on November 11, 1831, at Ellisburg, New York.Fiske studied at Cazenovia Seminary and started his collegiate studies at Hamilton College in 1847. He joined the Psi Upsilon but was suspended for a student prank at the end of his...

 gave the following explication of Schlumberger’s poor play during this game.

Maelzel's first exhibition-season in Philadelphia extended from the 26th of December, 1826, to the 20th of March, 1827. The Hall was open twice a day—at noon and in the evening—and full games as well as end-games were played, but whether indifferently at either hour I do not know. The Automaton lost one end-game—the famous Three Pawn position—to Mr. Daniel Smith; and one full game to a lady, Mrs. Fisher. The latter game happens to be the only specimen of poor Schlumberger's play—I will not say skill—that has been preserved. It was printed at the time in the Philadelphia Gazette, and was afterwards reported in Mr. Stanley's American Chess Magazine (p. 57). It was played at two different sittings, on the 30th and 31st days of January. Maelzel's devotion to the fair sex was quite too profound to allow his Automaton to insist upon his prerogative to take the first move; nay, Schlumberger is said to have had peremptory orders to get beaten. After the lady's 39th move, Mr. Maelzel (says the newspaper), at this stage of the game, considering it lost, politely thanked Mrs. F., and observed that he was fairly beaten. He also remarked that the Automaton had been conquered but three times—once in Paris, once in Boston, and by Mrs. F. of Philadelphia.

The other Schluberger ‘s game survived is probably more interesting. It is played with Charles Vezin (1781–1853), considered the founder and father of chess in Philadelphia and a good player.
The notes to the game are from Chess in Philadelphia: a brief history of the game in Philadelphia edited by G. C. Reichhelm and W. P. Shipley, 1898. Additionally, analysis carried out with the chess engine FireBird 1.2 are reported in square parentheses.

C. Vezin - W. Schlumberger

Played in Phildelphia at a private party between Mr. Charles Vezin and Maetzel's Automaton Chess Player. It took three sittings, starting January 15, 1827, continuing January 22 and finishing January 23.

1.e4 e6 2.Bc4 Not well opened. In those days the study of closed openings was not pursued. 2...d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Be2 f5 5.d4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0–0 Nf6 8.c4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bc5 10.Be3 Qb6 11.Nb3 This promises best in this situation. Mr. V. cleverly escapes. 11...Bxe3 12.fxe3 Qxe3+ 13.Kh1 Be if 13...d4 then 14.Bf3 Ne4 15.Bxe4 fxe4 16.Re1 etc. 14.cxd5 Bxd5 [14...0–0–0!, Firebird, now the game is approximately equal according to the chess engine] 15.Bh5+ Kf8 16.Rxf5 Rd8 17.Qf1 Kg8? [Firebird] 18.Nc3 Qh6 (see Diagram 1) 19.Bf3? [19.Nxd5 Nxh5 20.Qf3! g6 21.Rxh5 gxh5 22.Nf6+ wins, Firebird] 19...Be6 20.Rb5 Rf8 21.Rxb7 Ng4 The Automaton appears to be growing an attack, but white’s 23rd move claims his particular attention 22.Qg1 Nce5 23.Nd5 Ng6 24.Rf1 Qg5 25.Qd4 Qe5 26.Qxe5 N4xe5 27.Nc5 Bg4 28.Rb3?! [28.h3 h5 29.hxg4 hxg4+ 30.Kg1 gxf3 31.Ne6 Rf7 32.Rb8+ Nf8 33.Ne7+ Rxe7 34.Rxf8+ Kh7 35.Ng5+ Kg6 36.Rxh8 wins for white, Firebird] 28...h5 29.Kg1 Bxf3 30.gxf3 Nh4? [according to Firebird, black defense, after his mistake at move 17, was, considering the circumstances, accurate, but here he slips again] 31.f4 Ng4 32.h3 Nh6 33.Ne6 [33.Ne7+ Kh7 34.Ne6 wins, Firebird] 33...Re8 34.Ndc7 Rc8 35.Rd1 N6f5 36.Rd7 Rh6 37.Rbd3 Rf6 38.Ng5 Ng6 39.Nce6 Nf8 40.Rd8 Rc1+ 41.Kf2 Rc2+ 42.Ke1 Rxb2 The white forces have been so well managed that Monsieur Schlumberger, who played in the Automaton, considers it is time to prepare for a draw. 43.Ra8 Nh4? [computer analysis indicated that black after 30...Nh4? defended well, but, now, the same move is again a mistake, better was 43...Rb6, Firebird] 44.Rdd8 Nhg6 45.Rxa7 Nxf4 46.Rxg7+ Kh8 47.Nf7+? [the last opportunity for a comfortable win was 47.Rf7!, Firebird] 47...Rxf7 48.Rxf7 N4xe6 49.Rdxf8+ Nxf8 50.Rxf8+ Kg7 51.Rf2 He might have tried 51.Ra8 and then defend his Ph3 by Ra3, but the game was draw with proper play 51...Rb1+ 52.Ke2 Rh1 53.Rf3 Rh2+ 54.Kd3 Rxa2 ½–½

External links

• William Schlumberger at chess.com
• The man in the automaton at time.com
• A portrait of Schlumberger at Sarah's Chess Journal