Rubutun Benjamin Franklin na shekarar 1786 mai taken “Halayen Catur” ya sake fasalta wasan a matsayin muhimmin kayan aiki don ci gaban kai da nagartar hankali. Franklin ya yi imani cewa catur ya fi zama wasan nishaɗi; aikin motsa tunani ne na hangen nesa, nazari, da taka tsantsan—halaye da ya ɗauka suna da muhimmanci don samun nasara a rayuwar sirri da diplomasiyya ta jama'a. A duk lokacin Zamani na Haske, Franklin ya kan ziyarci shahararrun kafunan catur kamar Café de la Régence a Paris. Waɗannan wurare sun kasance cibiyoyin sadarwar zamantakewa na asali a wancan zamanin, inda wasan ya taimaka wajen gudanar da muhawarori masu tsauri da musayar ra'ayoyin juyin-juya hali, yana haɗa duniyoyin kimiyya, siyasa, da falsafa.
Sha'awar Franklin ga iyakokin tunani na wasan ta kai shi ga wata haduwa ta tarihi da Mechanical Turk, mashahurin na'urar buga catur a duniya. A lokacin wasan shekarar 1783 a Paris, Franklin ya gwada kwarewarsa da na'urar, wadda ta zama misali na yadda zamanin Enlightenment ke mai da hankali kan hankali na injiniya. A ƙarshe Turk ɗin ya yi tafiya zuwa Amurka inda ya sami mazauninsa na ƙarshe a Gidan Tarihi na Peale (daga baya Gidan Tarihi na Sin) a Philadelphia. Ya kasance ginshiƙi a al'adun kimiyya na Pennsylvania na tsawon shekaru kafin ya ɓace a wuta a shekarar 1854. Wannan gadon ƙirƙirar ɗan adam da basirar na'ura ya ci gaba da zama labari na asali a baje kolin da ke bincika haɗuwar tarihi, wasanni, da ci gaban basira.
Hoton yana nuna Benjamin Franklin yana wasan catur. Zane na Edward Harrison May, 1867
