Chess is not a sport that is synonymous with physical contact, let alone violence. But recently, a young chess athlete suffered a broken bone after his finger was squeezed by a robot during a match.
The incident occurred during a chess match at the Moscow Open tournament on July 19. According to Russian media, the robot appeared to be startled by the movement of the seven-year-old's hand, before grasping and breaking his finger.
"The robot broke the boy's finger. This is of course bad," the president of the Moscow Chess Federation Sergey Lazarev told Russian media TASS, as quoted by The Guardian, Monday (25/7/2022).
CCTV footage of the incident was spread on Telegram. The CCTV footage shows the moment the robot gripped the boy's hand for a few seconds before four people came to free him.
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
Lazarev said the chess specialist robot was indeed hired from the operator for the tournament. The robot can play several games of chess at a time and its abilities have been showcased on several occasions.
Russian Chess Federation vice-president Sergey Smagin said the robot initially took one of the child's chess pieces. But instead of waiting for the robot to finish its move, the child hastily replied to his step and finally his finger was clamped by the robot.
"There were some safety rules and the kid, apparently, broke them. When he took his step, he didn't realize he had to wait first. This is a very rare case, the first I can remember," Smagin told Baza media.
Baza revealed the seven-year-old athlete named Christopher, who is one of the 30 best under-nine chess players in Moscow.
Lazarev said Christopher was not traumatized by the attack. Christopher was even able to finish the tournament even though his broken finger had to be in a cast.
Even so, Christopher's parents reportedly plan to take legal action by contacting the prosecutor's office. "We will communicate, find a way out and try to help as much as possible," said Smagin.