Leonardo Torres y Quevedo | Biography

Spanish scientist Leonardo Torres y Quevedo constructed during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century several relay-activated, electromechanical calculating machines that "played" chess. The mechanical machine, or "automaton," that Quevedo built in 1890, which he named "El Ajedristica," is often called the first true chess computer. It performed algorithmic calculations by mechanical means, similar to an adding machine. The machine automatically played a king and a rook endgame against an opposing king (played by a human opponent) and was able to achieve checkmate from any initial position in a few moves. The machine consisted of a metal base that made contact with the squares of the board to enable the automaton to identify the king's square by electric currents. (Quevedo's name is appropriate for his invention since "torres" is Spanish for "rooks.") Programming was relatively simple because a limited set of rules could be input for making satisfactory moves in such an endgame. However, this elementary end game was seen as quite advanced for that period of time.

Quevedo's machines were later publicly acclaimed when one machine competed against and defeated a cyberneticist (a person involved with the theoretical study of control processes in electronic systems) by the name of Norbert Wiener. Although its function was limited to particular chess endgames, Quevedo proved that further advancement in computer technology was possible at a time when information about "artificial intelligence" was very limited. At the time of his invention Torres was the president of the Academy of Sciences in Madrid, Spain. His 1890 machine can still be viewed, in working order, at the Polytechnic Museum in Madrid.

Quevedo was directly influenced by the work of English mathematician Charles Babbage (1791-1871) and his analytical engine. That knowledge helped Quevedo to play a significant role in the history of the development of program-controlled computers. A civil engineer, logician, and automation expert, Quevedo was also the author of numerous inventions and international patents in such things as suspension bridges, analog computers, ferries, and airships. In addition, in 1906 Quevedo designed a complex number multiplier device, and in 1907 developed a language for defining mechanical drawings. However, Quevedo saw little future in his chess-playing machines because, like Charles Babbage, he felt restricted by the existing mechanical constraints.

Quevedo is especially remembered as the 1915 author of the fundamental work The First Modern Treatise on the Automatism that described the basic functions of automatic sensors. Within the article Quevedo also analyzed one of Charles Babbage's machines. Today the publication is considered to have contributed an important role in numerous computer achievements during the twentieth century. The experiments and inventions of Leonardo Torres y Quevedo provided the evidence that eventually led to the understanding that technology could advance and someday take over basic duties of humans in the form of artificial intelligence.