Russian Chess Player Arrested For Allegedly Poisoning Opponent With Mercury

The fastest way to improve at chess is to study openings: the French Defense, the Englund Gambit, the Bird's Opening, that sort of thing. According to the Russian Chess Federation, 40-year-old player Amina Abakarova pioneered a new opening at a tournament in Dagestan earlier this month, something we might call the Mad Hatter's Lament. By which I mean, she allegedly poisoned an opponent with mercury.

Cameras at the Dagestan Chess Championships in Makhachkala show Abakarova approaching the board where her 30-year-old rival Umayganat Osmanova was set to play in half an hour. A few other people are in the room, and Abakarova looks around like she's up to something before taking something out of her bag and spreading a substance on the base of the table right next to the board, appearing at one point to grab Osmanova's king and daub it in the indeterminate goop. Osmanova complained of dizziness shortly after she began playing, and officials administering medical attention reportedly concluded she'd been poisoned. After looking at security footage, it was pretty obvious what had happened, and Abakarova was arrested.

Per Russian media, prior to her gambit Abakarova asked if the cameras in the room were operational and was told they were not, which is a classic trap people use to counter the Mad Hatter's Lament. The experienced player knows to make sure to disable cameras themselves, which is not always possible or simple. That is one reason why the opening is so unpopular, the other being that mercury is a potentially lethal substance. Abakarova reportedly said her plan was "knock her opponent out of the tournament" by scaring her, not injuring her. That's sort of out of your control if your method is mercury poisoning. The alleged poisoner said she was motivated by "personal hostility" toward her younger rival, who'd beaten her in the the Dagestan Rapid Championship one week earlier.

Russian media reports that Abakarova had her phone on her during the match, and that Osmanova didn't alert the judges. "She should have been grateful to me that I didn’t make a fuss and forgave her," Osmanova said. "Instead, Amina refused to shake my hand during the competition last week." Abakarova was arrested on site and faces up to three years in jail. She is currently suspended from competitive chess and is facing a possible lifetime ban. In this middling player's opinion, she should have stuck to the classics, or tried at least a weird opening with some theory behind it, like the Grob or the Frankenstein-Dracula Variation.