Russian Chess Player Allegedly Poisons Rival Before Match

Dagestani chess player Amina Abakarova allegedly poisoned her opponent with mercury before a chess tournament on August 2, according to Baza, a Russian Telegram news channel.

A security camera video of the chess tournament in the city of Makhachkala shows Abakarova going to her opponent’s, Umaiganat Osmanova, table, sprinkling something close to where she would sit.

“Amina Abakarova from the city of Makhachkala, applied an unidentified substance, which later turned out to contain mercury, to the table where Umaiganat Osmanova from the city of Kaspiisk was set to play against her,” Sazhid Sazhidov, the president of the Russian Republic of Dagestan’s Physical Culture and Sports ministry, confirmed with the Russian state media outlet, TASS.

Osmanova reportedly discovered the mercury when a piece of it came out from under the board.

“In the first minutes, I felt a lack of air and a taste of iron in my mouth,” Osmanova told RTV1. “I had to spend about five hours on this board. I don’t know what would have happened to me if I hadn’t seen it earlier.”

“I still feel bad,” Osmanova added.

Osmanova beat Abakarova the previous week at a July chess tournament. A bitter Abakarova reportedly refused to shake Osmanova’s hand following the competition, according to Osmanova.

“She should have been grateful to me that I didn’t make a fuss and forgave her,” Osmanova said of the incident.

Osmanova, added that Abakarova has violated the rules in the past, bringing a phone to a tournament, which is prohibited.

Russian outlet Mash reported that Abakarova, not the smoothest criminal, had asked organizers if the security cameras were functioning 20 minutes before the competition started. Organizers reportedly told her they were not.

The Russian Chess Federation is now considering a lifetime ban for Abakarova along with her current suspension, according to RTV1.

Abakarova has been detained by police under charges of “intentional infliction of minor harm to health” and could face up to two years in jail, according to the RTV1.