Russian chess player faces jail after video shows her allegedly poisoning opponent with mercury: 'I've never seen anything like this'

In scenes reminiscent of the game's 20th century heyday, where dark rumours of subterfuge and sabotage swirled around countless Russian players, a chess player has been suspended from the game and faces up to three years in jail for poisoning her opponent… on camera. 

Everything happened at the Dagestan Chess Championship on August 2 and was first reported by a Russian Telegram channel before reaching government media. Amina Abakarova, a 40 year-old player from the Russian Republic of Dagestan, was scheduled to play Umayganat Osmanova, a 30 year-old longtime rival who had beaten Abakarova into second place in a tournament the week prior. The pair had known each other for years, and had recently been involved in a close-run match that was awarded to Osmanova.

Around 20 minutes before the match was due to start, security camera footage caught Abakarova approaching the table, before smearing liquid mercury from a thermometer over the chess board and pieces. According to Chess.com, Abakarova had asked prior to this whether cameras were in use at the venue, and had been told they weren't.

Liquid mercury from thermometers can be dangerous if touched with the skin, but the real danger is inhalation or in the worst case swallowing the substance, which can be fatal. In the event, Osmanova began complaining that she was unwell, nauseous and dizzy around half an hour after the game began. Doctors were called, who concluded that poisoning may have been the cause, and after reviewing the security footage (which can be seen below), the police were called and Abakarova was arrested.

The victim Osmanova later said she felt "terrible, disgusting, and morally depressed" after realising she had been poisoned, adding that another player had also fallen ill. "I still feel bad," Osmanova told Russia Today. "In the first minutes, I felt a lack of air and a taste of iron in my mouth. 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."

According to Russian media, Abakarova confessed to "personal hostility" towards Osmanova, adding that she wanted to "knock her out of the tournament." Should she be found guilty of the attempted poisoning, she faces up to three years in jail. The Russian Chess Federation has temporarily suspended her and, pending its own investigation, is likely to issue a lifetime ban from the game. 

"The motives of such an experienced competitor as Amina Abakarova are incomprehensible," said Sazhid Sazhidov, Dagestan's Minister of Sport. "The actions she took could have led to a most tragic outcome, threatening the lives of everyone who was present, including herself. Now she must answer for what she did by the law."

"I've never seen anything like this before," said Malcolm Pein of the English Chess Federation. "This is the first recorded case of somebody using a toxic substance, to my knowledge, in the history of the game of chess."

Or, as The Economist's Oliver Carroll put it: "I know that on the standards of Russian doping it's perhaps only a 7 out of 10. But still …"

Following treatment, Osmanova recovered and continued the tournament, finishing in second place. Abakarova was expelled.