The chess machine

the long version

"Vienna 1770 -- Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen unveils a strange, amazing invention, the Mechanical Turk, a sensational and unbeatable chess-playing automaton. But what the Habsburg court hails as the greatest innovation of the century is hardly what it appears to be. And when a beautiful and seductive countess dies under mysterious circumstances in the presence of the Turk, both machine and inventor find themselves at the heart of a web of intrigue and espionage. Daring and brilliant, The Chess Machine -- based on a bizarre true story -- is a classic portrait of envy, lust, scandal, and deception."--Publisher's description.