Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National

Robot crushes child's finger in Russian chess match

CCTV footage captures the moment a chess robot breaks a boy's finger in Russia.

A robot has crushed the finger of its seven-year-old opponent during a chess tournament in Russia, local media outlets are reporting. 

CCTV footage published by Telegram channel Baza captures the moment the robot grabs the boy's finger mid-game and breaks it before four adults rush in to help free the child.

According to Russian news agency Tass, the incident happened during the Moscow Chess Open on July 19.

Sergey Lazarev, the president of the Moscow Chess Federation, told Tass the robot was rented for the competition.

"The robot was rented by us. It has been exhibited in many places, for a long time, with specialists.

"The child made a move, and after that we need to give time for the robot to answer, but the boy hurried and the robot grabbed him. We have nothing to do with the robot."

The boy's parents will contact prosecutors

Mr Lazarev said the child finished the tournament the next day in a cast, with volunteers helping to record the moves.

"The parents want to contact the prosecutor's office,," Mr Lazarev said.

"We will communicate, figure it out and try to help [the family] in any way we can.

"And the robot operators, apparently, will have to think about strengthening protection so that this situation does not happen again."

Sergey Smagin says the robot has been playing chess for about 15 years. (News Video)

Moscow Chess Federation's vice-president Sergey Smagin told RIA Novosti news agency this was the first time an incident like this had happened.

"Nothing serious happened," he said.

"The boy then went to the awards ceremony, signed [documents]. Everything is fine with the boy.

"There are certain safety rules and the child, apparently, violated them. When he made a move, he didn't notice that he had to wait."

Mr Smagin described the incident as an "extremely rare case".

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.