Chess-Playing Robot Goes Rogue, Breaks Child's Finger During Tournament

A chess-playing robot went rogue and broke a child's finger during a tournament in Russia last week, Moscow Chess Federation president Sergey Lazarev told TASS Russian News Agency via CNN.

"A robot broke a child's finger -- this is, of course, bad," Lazarev said.

Lazarev said the incident took place at the Moscow Chess Open last Tuesday (July 19) after the boy rushed the robot during his match.

"The robot was rented by us, it has been exhibited in many places by specialists for a long time," Lazarev added via CNN. "Apparently, the operators overlooked some flaws. The child made a move, and after that it is necessary to give time for the robot to respond, but the boy hurried, the robot grabbed him. We have nothing to do with the robot."

Lazarev said the child had his finger put in a cast and managed to continue playing in the tournament with the assistance of volunteers.

"The child played the next day, finished the tournament in a cast, and volunteers helped to record the moves," Lazarev said. "We will coordinate to understand what happened and try to help [the family] in any way we can. And the robot's operators, apparently, will have to think about strengthening protection so that such a situation does not happen again."

Video shared by Baza Telegram and reshared by the Telegraph shows the robot grabs the child's finger, leading to several bystanders helping to free the boy's hand and escort him away from the table.

The tournament began on July 13 and ran through July 21.