Many competitors are willing to go to great lengths to win over their opponents. But chess player Amina Abakarova, 40, went way beyond what normal competitors would consider. She is accused of smearing mercury on the board of an opponent in an attempt to poison her during a tournament.

No queens gambit

The life of a chess player is often stressful and unglamorous. The pros often fight for small prizes, spending hours and hours on a single game, only to lose by making the slightest mistake.

Yet nothing can justify something like this.

Abakarova was scheduled to play against Umayganat Osmanova, 30, in a tournament in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. The two reportedly had a rivalry for years and Abakarova was determined to end it. During the game, Osmanova started feeling sick about 30 minutes in.

“In the first minutes, I felt a lack of air and a taste of iron in my mouth,” she told Russia Today. “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.”

When the doctors consulted Osmanova, they concluded that she was poisoned by fumes. This is when the tournament referee asked to review the camera footage taken before the game.

Apparently, Abakarova had asked whether the cameras were in operation and had been told that they weren’t — but they were. A 34-second video leaked on Telegram shows Abakarova walking into the room and calmly moving up to the chessboard. She then seems to rub something on the board, then looks around as she walks away.

According to Russian media, the player used mercury that she obtained from a thermometer. However, thermometer mercury is unlikely to have caused this on its own, but it is unclear whether Abakarova also treated the substance in any way. Another chess player and another official in the playing hall were also reported as feeling sick.

A toxic rivalry

Details are still scarce, and it’s unclear what the sentence will be. For now, Abakarova has been suspended indefinitely and may receive up to 3 years in jail. The chess player reportedly confessed “personal hostility” towards Osmanova, who had recently won another tournament in tiebreaks, ahead of Abakarova. The plan was allegedly not to harm Osmanova but to scare her and knock her out of the tournament, according to a police report quoted by Russian media. 

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin. It has a number of distinctive symptoms, including tremors, dizziness, and a metallic taste in your mouth. Inhaling mercury vapors can be extremely dangerous and potentially deadly.

Although this is the first tangible poisoning attempt in the chess world we could find, state agents in Russia have been accused before of using mercury (among other toxins) to harm and kill perceived enemies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Despite this poisoning attempt, Osmanova recovered and actually finished second in the chess tournament.