William Schlumberger

William Schlumberger (March 25, 1799 – February 20, 1838) was an Alsatian chess master. He is known to have taught Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant to play chess. For a time, Schlumberger operated the Turk, a chess-playing machine which was purported to be an automaton, after he was hired by Bavarian musician and showman Johann Nepomuk Mälzel. Schlumberger acted as the Turk's director in Europe and in the United States until his death from yellow fever in 1838.

Biography The main source of information on Schlumberger's life is George Allen's "The History of the Automaton Chess-Player in America", published within a book by Willard Fiske. Unless otherwise indicated, the brief biography given below derives from Allen's "History".

Schlumberger was born in Mulhouse, Alsace, 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 he was equally familiar from childhood, but also in English. He described himself as having started in business, 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, where he was one of the leading players, but known only as Mulhouse (a nickname probably given to him by Saint-Amant). When the young St. Amant began to frequent the Café de la Régence, around 1823, he found Mulhouse capable of playing with La Bourdonnais at no greater odds than the pawn and move, and fully equal to Boncourt and Mouret; and so St. Amant took chess lessons from him. Many years later, he gratefully acknowledged that he owed his initiation to chess to Schlumberger.

Schlumberger was dependent solely upon his earnings as a chess-teacher, a precarious situation. So he accepted the offer of Maelzel, the owner of the Turk, to operate it during its tour in America for fifty dollars a month plus travel expenses. During the tour, however, there were some incidents that almost revealed the secret of the Turk. In Baltimore, two boys watching a performance from a roof, saw Schlumberger come out of the machine. An article based on their account, "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, who later wrote his essay "Maelzel's Chess Player" 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 February 1838. Here it is presented with the comments of C. H. Stanley

Mrs. F - The Turk (Schlumberger) Philadelphia, 1827 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 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

George Allen gives the following explanation of Schlumberger's poor play during this game. 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 is reported in square parentheses.

C. Vezin - W. Schlumberger Played in Philadelphia 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.