Mephisto (automaton)

Mephisto consisted of a life-size figure representing the mythical Mephistopheles. Dressed in elegant red velvet attire, the figure had a cloven hoof as a foot and was seated in an armchair in front of an unenclosed, open-sided table with a chessboard and pieces. Contemporary accounts describe the figure's head and upper body as rigid. Its right arm extended over the board to "indicate" moves, while assistants manually moved the chess pieces following the operator's instructions. The chessboard contained shallow recesses that held the bases of the chess pieces in place, preventing them from slipping when the table was jostled. The figure itself was firmly bolted to the table and its arm was given enough reach to cross the board without destabilizing the entire structure. Before each exhibition, members of the public were invited to inspect the contraption to convince themselves that no player was hidden inside. This was a key element of Mephisto's publicity and of its distinction from earlier chess "automatons". ==History==

Gumpel completed Mephisto in the mid-1870s, and was first shown in 1878 at Gumpel's home in Leicester Square, London. It soon attracted attention in London chess circles. In 1878 the machine, with Gunsberg operating, was entered in the Counties Chess Association tournament in London. It scored sufficiently well for contemporary writers to credit it as the first "automaton" to win a formal chess event. After the close of the exposition the apparatus was dismantled; its subsequent fate and present whereabouts are unknown. == Legacy ==

Chess historians often view Mephisto as a transitional device between deceptive chess "automatons" and later, more advanced, automatic chess-playing machines. Its controlled public image and "machine-like" behavior foreshadowed the later interest in mechanical and electronic chess-playing machines. The name Mephisto was later revived by the German company Hegener & Glaser for a line of dedicated chess computers beginning in 1980. Mephisto went on to win multiple World Microcomputer Chess Championships from 1984 to 1990. Hegener & Glaser was subsequently acquired by Saitek in 1994, which continued to market standalone chess computers under the brand Mephisto. ==See also==