A seven-year-old boy was injured in an accident at a chess tournament in Moscow.
As the Russian news agency “RIA Novosti” reports, on July 19 the boy tried to play chess against an artificial intelligence. But suddenly the mechanical robot arm is said to have crushed and broken the index finger of its opponent.
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As the agency further reports, the boy is said to have acted too hastily due to lack of time and initiated his next move too early. At the same time, the chess robot wanted to place a piece on a nearby square and accidentally caught the seven-year-old’s finger.
A video recording of the incident is circulating on Twitter. You can see a boy playing chess against an artificial intelligence. When the child’s finger is crushed by the robotic arm, the surrounding adults rush to help to free the boy. The tweet jokingly said, “There is no violence in chess, they said. Come and play, they said”.
Sergey Lazarev, president of the Moscow Chess Federation (FSM), told the TASS news agency that the boy’s finger was broken and had to be put in a cast. However, the seven-year-old was able to continue playing the next day with a cast.
It is still unclear why the chess robot injured the finger of its opponent. As the Vice President of the Moscow Chess Federation Sergei Smagin reported to “RIA Novosti”, the robot has been playing against human opponents for 15 years without an accident.
It goes on to say that the accident was an extremely rare occurrence – according to Smagin, the first he can remember. The robot is unique and has already been used in many tournaments. Smagin explains that the case is amazing considering how many events have already taken place involving this chess robot.
According to the current status, the chess robot is not threatened with a ban on participating in further tournaments. First of all, it is necessary to analyze in detail how the incident happened. Smagin himself is not an expert in robot configurations, but the chess robot has a talented inventor.
An additional protection system may need to be installed. In addition, it is necessary to warn the children before a game with artificial intelligence.
