Chess Robot shut down after breaking child’s finger


In a sad day for robots everywhere, a finger-breaking Chess Robot faces the death sentence for attacking a child. Controlled by its on-board AI, this once-friendly chess-playing robot will no longer be allowed to be in service.

Chess Robot killed for harming child

As we reported last week, a Russian chess robot made headlines for breaking a child’s finger during a match. Due to the speed of the child‘s moves, the robot got confused and grabbed a finger instead of a chess piece, breaking it.

The child was able to continue playing chess the day after. However, it would appear that the child’s parents are unhappy with the situation, and are seeking revenge. Their victim: a confused robot arm.

Via The Indian Express, the chess robot has been placed on standby mode after the incident. With parents looking to press charges, the robot may be shut down permanently. However, the Moscow Chess Federation is hoping to use the machine again.

Federation president Sergey Lazarev has called for new safeguards and regulations to be put in place to make sure no new child fingers get snapped. The President hopes that the Federation and the parents can solve the matter peacefully.

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Faulty hardware?

The issues surrounding the Russian chess robot are a rare occurrence. In thousands of games, the robot never harmed another contestant of any age bracket, let alone another child.

It’s not really a product issue. That same exact model of robotic arm isn’t snapping digits on the regular. It’s not a repeat issue worthy of recall, but it is still an issue.

Anyways, RIP Chess Robot, we barely knew ye.

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