10/31/2018 – On this All Hallows Eve, we examine the chess connections of one of literature's great spooky storytellers, the American author Edgar Allen Poe. (See part one!) Poe was curiously dismissive of chess, comparing it unfavourably to both draughts and the classic English card game Whist. In the process, he attempted to weigh the relative importance of calculation and analysis, and while he clearly misunderstood the game by our modern estimation, his work carries tremendous literary weight and influenced generations, including writers who would also use chess for its metaphorical powers in their stories.

10/31/2018 – On this All Hallows Eve, we examine the chess connections of one of literature's great spooky storytellers, the American author Edgar Allen Poe, beginning with his relationship to an original "chess costume" — The Turk. Poe discovered the chess-playing automaton during its American tour in the 1820s, and quickly became suspicious of its authenticity. He set about to unravel the mystery, which to this day offers a lesson in rationality and morality.