Chess is a board game that requires patience, strategic thinking, and calm concentration. Usually, violence is not a factor. It appears that machines can’t always be stated to be the same.
Recently, Russian media said that a chess-playing robot unceremoniously seized and fractured a seven-year-old boy, Christopher’s finger during a match at the Moscow Open. The robot was reportedly disturbed by the boy’s quick reactions.
Moscow Chess Federation president Sergey Lazarev stated that the machine broke the child’s finger.
He added that the machine had played several matches before and had never caused such a problem before.
The viral video which is doing rounds on social media shows the boy’s finger getting stuck in between the robotic arm for several seconds before a woman followed by three men can be seen rushing to free the child from the machine.
Jesus… A robot broke kid‘s finger at Chess Tournament in Moscow @elonmusk @MagnusCarlsen
There is no violence in chess, they said.
Come and play, they said. https://t.co/W7sgnxAFCi pic.twitter.com/OVBGCv2R9H
— 🆁🆄🆂🆂🅸 🅽 🅼 🆁🅺🅴🆃 (@russian_market) July 21, 2022
Sergey Samgin, vice-president of the Russian Chess Federation pointed out the incident mentioning that while the machine was playing its turn, instead of waiting for the machine to complete its turn the boy opted for a quick response.
He further added that there are certain safety rules and the boy violated them. This is an extremely rare case and the first that he could recall.
On the other hand, Lazarev had a different perception. He claimed that the boy had to move and then give time for the robot to answer, but instead the child reacted fast.
Christopher is stated to be one of the 30 best chess players in the Russian capital in the under-nines category.
Unfeared of what happened, the boy next day in his plaster cast continued to play and finished the tournament.
However, his parents did contact the public prosecutor’s office.