Now that’s a fool’s gambit.
A Russian chess champion allegedly attempted to poison an opponent at a recent tournament in a brazen caught-on-camera move.
Security footage from Aug. 2 appeared to capture Amina Abakarova, 40, sneaking into the tournament room of the Dagestan Chess Championship in Makhachkala, a city in southern Russia, while checking to see if the coast was clear, the Sun reported.
Once inside, she walked casually through the room before stopping at one of the many chessboards set up, taking a quick look to see if anybody was looking and then taking something from her bag.
Abakarova then appeared to pour a substance across the table and onto the chessboard, before rubbing it on several pieces. She then slipped out of the room.
Her alleged target, 30-year-old rival Umayganat Osmanova, sat at the spot she’d spread with the substance and ended up falling ill during the match.
Abakarova’s attempt was discovered after a tournament judge reported Osmanova’s suspicious illness to police, and security tapes were checked.
She later admitted to the attempted poisoning, telling police she’d broken a thermometer over the table and spread mercury across the board.
But Abakarova insisted it was Osmanova who opened hostilities between them — claiming her rival had been badmouthing her and her family after winning at a previous tournament.
“I am perplexed by what happened, and the motives of such an experienced competitor as Amina Abakarova are incomprehensible,” said local Minister of Sport Sazhida Sazhidova.
“The actions she took could have led to a most tragic outcome, threatening the lives of everyone who was present, including herself.”
Abakarova faces three years in prison if convicted on charges of intentional infliction of bodily harm.
She took home the North Caucasus Federal District Chess Championship in nearby Pyatigorsk last year and works as a chess coach at a school in Makhachkala.
