A chess-playing robot breaks a child’s finger at a Moscow tournament

(CNN) — A chess-playing robot broke a child’s finger during a game in Russia last week, the president of the Moscow Chess Federation told the state news agency TASS.

Sergey Lazarev said the incident occurred at the Moscow Chess Open after the boy rushed out before the robot made its move.

“A robot broke a child’s finger, this is, of course, bad,” Lazarev said.

“The robot was rented by us, it was exhibited in many places by specialists for a long time. Apparently, the operators overlooked some faults. The boy made a movement, and then you have to give the robot time to respond, but the boy rushed in, the robot grabbed him. We have nothing to do with the robot.”

The boy continued to compete after his finger was put in a cast, Lazarev said Thursday. The incident occurred last Tuesday.

“The boy played the next day, he finished the tournament in a cast and the volunteers helped him to record the plays,” Lazarev added.

“We will coordinate to understand what happened and we will try to help [a la familia] in everything we can”. And the robot operators, it seems, will have to think about reinforcing the protection so that a situation like this does not repeat itself.”

The video posted on Baza’s Telegram channel shows the robot grabbing the boy’s finger. After a brief struggle, several people help free the boy’s hand and move him away from the table.

“The robot did not like such a rush: it grabbed the boy’s index finger and squeezed it hard. Passers-by rushed to help and pulled out the young player’s finger, but the fracture could not be avoided,” said the Baza telegram channel. in your post.

The Moscow Chess Open was held in the Russian capital from July 13 to 21.