the turk was not a real machine, but a mechanical illusion. there was a person inside the machine working the controls. with a skilled chess player hidden inside the box, the turk won most of the games. it played and won games against many people including napoleon bonaparte and benjamin franklin. the chess players who secretly worked inside the box included johann allgaier, hyacinthe henri boncourt, aaron alexandre, william lewis, jacques mouret, and william schlumberger.