A Russian chess champion is facing both a lifetime ban and jail time following accusations of poisoning her childhood rival.
Amina Abakarova, 43, was caught on camera smearing her opponent’s pieces with a substance before a tournament in Makhachkala, southern Russia, last week.
It’s believed that the substance was mercury, which the World Health Organization says could be highly toxic even with minor exposure.
Footage recovered from CCTV shows Abarakarova looking around the room with the chess boards before approaching her opponent’s table and taking a vial from her bag. She pours the substance onto the pieces before looking around the room again.
You can see her actions in the video below:
Chess isn’t the Hunger Games. Chess champion Amina Abakarova was caught on video smearing mercury on rival Umayganat Osmanova’s chess pieces, causing her to be hospitalized. She has been stripped of her title. pic.twitter.com/IqojTbEHMN
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 8, 2024
The victim, Umayganat Osmanova, required medical treatment after feeling “severe dizziness and nausea” during the game, though she managed to continue.
Amina Abakarova Did Not Take Recent Insults Lightly
According to reports, Abarakarova poisoned Osmanova as an act of revenge after she insulted her last Friday. She could face up to three years in prison as a result.
“We have video proof showing that one of the players at the Dagestani chess championship, Amina Abakarova from the city of Makhachkala, applied an unidentified substance, which later turned out to contain mercury, to the table where Umayganat Osmanova from the city of Kaspiisk was set to play against her,” Dagestani sports official Sazhid Sazhidov remarked, via the Independent.
The Telegraph was told by the English Chess Federation’s Malcolm Pain that this is the first incident of its kind where chess is confirmed.
“Like many others, I am perplexed by what happened, and the motives of such an experienced competitor as Amina Abakarova are incomprehensible,” he said. “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.”
The Russian Chess Federation is awaiting the outcome of a police investigation to hand Abarakarova a lifetime ban.
