El Ajedrecista

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El Ajedrecista,] the electro-mechanical KRK solver by Leonardo Torres y Quevedo. In 1910 Torres began (other sources state 1890, or 1901 ) to construct the chess automaton. In 1912 it was able to automatically play a white king (initially on a8) and white rook (initially on b7) against the lonesome black king placed on any square, except 7th or 8th rank. The algorithm was suboptimal, but could win in less than 50 moves against any defense. It used mechanical arms to make its moves and electrical sensors to detect its opponent's replies. A second, mechanical but not algorithmic improved El Ajedrecista was built by Leonardo Torres Quevedo's son Gonzalo in 1922, under the direction of his father. At the 1951 Paris Cybernetic Congress the advanced machine was introduced to a greater audience and explained to Norbert Wiener. Even if only playing KRK, El Ajedrecista can be considered as the world’s first chess computer, even a dedicated robot able to move its own pieces. It is still functional and can be visited at the Torres Quevedo Museum of Engineering, Institute of Civil Engineering at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. During the WCCC 1992, hosted by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, the original El Ajedrecista was an exhibit in the tournament hall.

=Photos=

El Ajedrecista I
Front view of the 1911 chess playing automation. The chessboard is shown in the lower right of center. Horizontal and vertical arms moved the pieces (which were actually electrical jacks) from square to square, and the logic circuitry consisted of battery driven relays arranged in a logical tree structure

El Ajedrecista II
Gonzalo Torres y Quevedo and Norbert Wiener

=Description= On March 17, 2007, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recognized Torres’ Telekine with an IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing. The dedication was held at the Torres Quevedo Museum of Engineering, Institute of Civil Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and following description of El Ajedrecista was given in the Celebration Ceremony Booklet Early Developments in Remote-Control, 1901 - The Telekine :

=The Robot= A detailed explanation of El Ajedrecista can be found in Les Automates by Henri Vigneron :

Assembly
El Ajedrecista - principle assembly diagram

Making own Moves
Eight electro-mechanical actuators make the robot's own white king (left, right, down) or rook (left, right, down one square, horizontally to a- and h-file) moves and update its internal board representation. They are build using a disc (D) under friction torque of a spindle (O) driven by weights suspended from a cord wrapped around a pulley. The disc has one sawtooth to prevent motion by an pawl unless an electromagnet (E) shortly attracts armature (A), allowing a full disc rotation, running a kind of mechanical microprogram for a specific piece movement. Using vertical and horizontal sliding arms, the robot addresses the origin square, grasps the piece from the board's plug hole, moves it over the target square to reinsert it into the board again.

=See also=
 * History of Computer Chess
 * Mate-in-two by Dietrich Prinz
 * Nemes' Chess Machine by Tihamér Nemes

=Publications=
 * Henri Vigneron (1914). Les Automates. La Nature, pdf from cyberneticzoo.com, Translation by David Levy as Robots in David Levy, Monroe Newborn (1982). All About Chess and Computers. Springer, pp. 14-23, also in David Levy (ed.) (1988). Computer Chess Compendium, pp. 273-278.
 * Anonymmous (1915). Torre and His Remarkable Automatic Devices. Scientific American, Supplement 80, Number 2079, November 06, 1915
 * Donald Michie (1977). King and Rook Against King: Historical Background and a Problem on the Infinite Board. Advances in Computer Chess 1
 * James M. Williams (1978). Antique Mechanical Computers, Part 3: The Torres Chess Automation. BYTE, Vol. 3, No. 9
 * David Levy (1982). Robots. Translation of Henri Vigneron (1914). Les Automates. in David Levy, Monroe Newborn (1982). All About Chess and Computers. Springer, also in David Levy (ed.) (1988). Computer Chess Compendium, pp. 273-278. pdf from cyberneticzoo.com
 * Brian Randell (1982). From Analytical Engine to Electronic Digital Computer: The Contributions of Ludgate, Torres, and Bush. Annals of the History of Computing, Vol. 4, No. 4, October 1982, pdf
 * Ulrich Thiemonds (1999). Ein regelbasiertes Spielprogramm für Schachendspiele. University of Bonn, Diploma Thesis, zipped ps, pdf, pp 34-36 "Historischer" Ansatz von Torres y Quevedo" (German)

=Forum Posts=
 * "El Ajedristica" Programming Challenge by Ricardo Gibert, CCC, April 25, 2005
 * One hundred years ago, the first chess computer by Steven Edwards, CCC, January 05, 2012
 * Re: Programmer wanted to write chess game for an exhibition by Harm Geert Muller, CCC, November 04, 2012 (El Ajedrecista algorithm)
 * chess-playing automaton, circa 1914 by Tom Glenn, CCC, February 10, 2014

=External Links=
 * El Ajedrecista from Wikipedia
 * El Ajedrecista from Wikipedia.es (Spanish)
 * Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - Museo "Torres Quevedo"
 * The first chess computer Chess Notes Archive by Edward Winter (note 4470, 4482)
 * The first chess computer Chess Notes Archive by Edward Winter (note 4525, 4547)
 * 1911 El Ajedrecista from Carolus Chess
 * 1911-20 - Chess Playing Machines - Leonardo Torres y Quevedo from cyberneticzoo.com
 * History of Computers and Computing, Automata, Leonardo Torres's chess-machine
 * Cyber Heroes of the past: Leonardo Torres y Quevedo
 * Mechanical Chess Opponent | Modern Mechanix
 * Spain, September 6, 1955 - Leonardo Torres Quevedo: inventor of the first chess machine El Ajedrecista in 1911
 * Imágenes del Autómata ajedrecista - Torres Quevedo (Spanish)
 * Die Schachautomaten des Torres Quevedo by Hans-Peter Ketterling, Schachklub Tempelhof (German)
 * Computer Schach by Andre Adrian, see Torres y Quevedo, Endspielautomat (German)
 * The Rook Endgame Machine of Torres y Quevedo by Ramón Jiménez, ChessBase, July 20, 2004
 * "El Ajedrecista" - an analog chess-playing computer from 1912, September 14, 2011
 * Chess and the Automaton Endgame by Jon Turi, February 9th, 2014
 * Leonardo Torres Quevedo Chess Automaton 1951, YouTube Video

=References= Up one level