NaBloPoMo 2020 In honor of the Queen's Gambit, let's consider the Mechanical Turk

 Last year, we saw the Mechanical Turk at the Met. It was a marvel, really.

The Turk was constructed in 1770 to go on a royal roadshow and entertain the glitterati. Uncanny Valley to the max with this one! Kings and queens were shocked and amazed how an automaton could beat them at chess! 

Too bad the original burned to a crisp in a fire. It's lucky some OCD type found the blueprint and built a pristine replica. Which is what we saw at the Met.

The original Turk was burnt in a fire.
This is a replica.

That Turk sure is uncanny!

Secrets revealed! 

If Beth Harmon had lived two hundred years ago, I wonder if she would have spent her afternoons crunched up in the Turk cabinet. Seems like a tough job even if you're not always on the edge of a bender.