Odyssey of a chess machine. Henkin

The plot of this book is not just the author’s romantic fiction, but also an attempt to historically explore one of the most delightful hoaxes of the Enlightenment, so rich in various kinds of inventions. 250 years ago, the outstanding inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen designed a mechanical chess player, a great-grandfather of modern chess computers. The Kempelena assault rifle toured with great success throughout Europe from Vienna to Paris and London, playing the nobles and even crowned persons - Frederick the Great and Napoleon. Attempts to penetrate the secret of the machine gun were made repeatedly, often in the most malicious ways that threatened the life of Kempelen and his companions ...
Viktor Lvovich Henkin (1923-2010), a chess master, journalist and writer, worked on the novel for about a quarter century, trying to recreate the atmosphere of the distant XVIII century as accurately as possible. Seeking for perfection, he has been ruled many times and rewritten the finished chapters and did not have time to finish his novel. The work was brought to the end by his wife Tatyana Gubarkov, with whom Viktor Henkin always shared his creative plans, discussed the plot lines in detail. For lovers of history, chess and adventure literature