Chess robot grabbed and broke seven-year-old boy's finger after he 'moved too quickly'

A robot partaking in a chess tournament grabbed and broke the finger of a seven-year-old boy, after he moved more quickly than the bot expected.

According to Russian media sources, the incident happened during a match at the Moscow Open last week.

President of the Moscow Chess Federation, Sergey Lazarev, told the TASS news agency after the tournament that the robot had broken the boy’s finger.

The machine had played many previous exhibitions without upset, Mr Lazarev said.

Footage of the incident on July 19, published by the Baza Telegram channel, showed the boy’s finger being pinched by the robotic arm for several seconds, with the child looking visibly uncomfortable.

A woman, followed by three men, then rush in, freeing the boy from the robot’s grip.

A woman, followed by three men, rush in to free the boy from the robot’s grip (Twitter)

Vice-president of the Russian Chess Federation, Sergey Smagin, told Baza that the robot appeared to pounce after it took one of the boy’s pieces in the game.

Instead of waiting for the machine to complete its move, the boy had responded quickly, he said.

Mr Smagin said: “There are certain safety rules and the child, apparently, violated them. When he made his move, he did not realise he first had to wait”.

“This is an extremely rare case, the first I can recall,” he added.

The machine had reportedly played many previous exhibitions without upset (Twitter)

Mr Lazarev also said the robot was led to grab the boy after he had hurried his move.

The robot’s suppliers are “going to have to think again” about the machine, local news outlets were told.

The boy, who was named only by his first name Christopher, was reportedly one of the 30 best chess players in the Russian capital in the under-nines category.

Mr Lazarev told Tass that Christopher was not overly traumatised by the attack and had finished the tournament, with volunteers helping to record the moves.

Christopher’s finger was put in a plaster cast.

His parents had reportedly contacted the public prosecutor’s office.

The robot, which could play multiple matches at a time, had reportedly already played three on the day it encountered Christopher.

Mr Smagin told local news outlets that the robot was “absolutely safe”.