The 1952 Paper Chess Computer of Alan Turing

Alan Turing, one of the greatest mathematicians who ever lived, wrote the first chess computer program before computers even existed. It was called the "paper machine." Basically it was an algorithm or procedure for determining the moves to play chess and Alan followed the algorithm and made the moves, acting as the central processing unit since the actual machine hadn't been invented yet. The program hung a queen and resigned against Alick Glennie in 1952.

Turing is also famous for the invention of the conceptual Turing machine, and for greatly affecting the outcome of World War Two by breaking the code of German communications. In their gratitude the British Government later put him in prison and forced chemical castration upon him for his homosexuality. He ingested cyanide and died shortly afterward.

Turing wrote the chess algorithm, and then followed it himself in leiu of the yet to be invented CPU. Below is a diagram from the game between Turing's chess program and Alick Glennie. Glennie wins.

I'm not all that surprised to see the moves a4 and h4. The computer algorithm used by Turing has no compunction about playing h4 and a4, the first two moves of the much maligned Crab Opening. Lacking the wisdom of basic chess principles the computer also leaves his king in the center, which later leads to the queen getting pinned and lost.

Here is an excerpt from page 24 of the book "Kasparov versus Deep Blue: Computer Chess Comes of Age,"

1. Mobility: For the queen, rooks, bishops, add the square roots of the number of moves that the piece can make, counting a capture as two moves.

2. Piece safety: For the rooks, bishops and knights add 1 point if there is one defender and 1.5 if there is more than one

3. King mobility: For the king use the same method of scoring as for the piece, but do not count castling

4. King safety: Deduct points for the king's vulnerability, defined as the number of moves that a queen could make were it on the square of the king

5. castling: add 1 point if castling is still legally possible after this move. Add another point if castling is immediately possible or if a castling move has just been made

6. Pawn credit: score .2 points for each rank advanced and .3 points for each pawn defended by one or more non pawns

7. Check and mate threats. Score 1 point for the threat of mate, and .5 points for a checkmaterial values used to each of the pieces were:pawn =1, knight=3, bishop=3.5 rook =5, queen=10