Amina Abakarova, 43, was filmed as she walked into the tournament hall of the Dagestan Chess Championship in Makhachkala, southern Russia , on Friday July 2

Footage from the hall showed Abakarova walk into the empty tournament hall with a bag from which she took what appeared to be a vial and walk up to a table

She went on to pour the contents of the vial over a chess board and tried to conceal the liquid by wiping the board with a chess piece – contents on analysis turned out to be mercury

Chess board targeted by Abakarova belongs to Umayganat Osmanova, 30, with whom she is said to have been feuding for years

Osmanova, who was later sitting at the table where the poison was poured, was hospitalized with severe dizziness and nausea shortly after the tournament started

Police confirmed that an investigation was started under the charge of ‘inflicting bodily harm’

Russian Chess Federation immediately stripped Abakarova of her title of Dagestan Chess Champion after reviewing the footage

She’s also facing a lifetime ban by the Federation if convicted

Amina Abakarova was filmed as she walked into the tournament hall of the Dagestan Chess Championship in Makhachkala, southern Russia , last Friday and took what appeared to be a vial out of her bag and pour the poison over her rival’s chess board

A female Russian chess champion has been stripped of her title after she was caught on CCTV smearing pieces with mercury to poison her long time rival ahead of a tournament.
According to local sources the protagonists Amina Abakarova and her target Umayganat Osmanova, 30, are childhood rivals and had been feuding for years.
Abakarova, 43, was filmed as she walked into the tournament hall of the Dagestan Chess Championship in Makhachkala, southern Russia, on Friday August 2, and took what appeared to be a vial out of her bag.
She went on to pour the contents of the vial over a chess board and tried to conceal the liquid by wiping the board with a chess piece.
Later analysis revealed the contents of the vial to be mercury, a toxic and highly carcinogenic chemical.

The board targeted by Abakarova belongs to log term chess rival Umayganat Osmanova, 30, [photo], with whom she is said to have been feuding for years

Abakarova [photo], according to sources, poisoned her rival to take revenge for insulting her and her family

Abakarova and Osmanova have been at odds with for years. Abakarova’s attack allegedly, as revenge for the latter insulting her and her family.
Witnesses said that Abakarova had behaved suspiciously 20 minutes before the contest started, asking if the cameras were set up to record the games being played were working yet.
When she was told they were not, she then executed her plot, first surveying her surroundings to make sure no one was watching as she approached Osmanova’s designated table for the tournament, to commit the dastardly act.

The footage shows Abakarova entering the hall, dropping a bag down under a, before walking over to the table behind while scanning the hall for possible watchers

Abakarova took what appeared to be a vial out of her bag before pouring it out over pieces on her rival’s chess board

She went on to pour the contents of the vial – which turned out to be mercury – over a chess board and tried to conceal the liquid by wiping the board with a chess piece

She was upended because she did not realize that the cameras had actually been switched on in the tournament hall ready for the event.
Osmanova, who was later sitting at the table where the poison was poured, reportedly got sick as the tournament shortly after the game was underway, with severe dizziness and nausea.
Subsequently, she was hospitalized with suspected mercury poisoning.
Police was called in when the CCTV footage from the tournament was reviewed by a judge, and Abakarova was spotted pouring the substance over Osmanova’s board.
‘We have video proof showing that one of the players at the Dagestani chess championship, Amina Abakarova […], applied an unidentified substance, which later turned out to contain mercury, to the table where Umayganat Osmanova […] was set to play against her,’ Sazhid Sazhidov, Russia’s minister of sport, told the Telegraph.

Whilst the investigation is still in progress, the Russian Chess Federation proactively stripped Abakarova [photo], of her title of Dagestan Chess Champion with immediate effect, after the footage review. The outcome will decide if she gets a lifetime ban

Sazhidov added that he was ‘perplexed’ by Abakarova’s attack and that her motives are ‘incomprehensible’.
Russian police confirmed that an investigation was started under the charge of ‘inflicting bodily harm’.
However, chess officials have not waited for the results of the police report, and confirm that Abakarova was immediately stripped of her title of Dagestan Chess Champion after they saw the footage.
The executive director of the Russian Chess Federation, Alexander Tkachyov, said that his organization was now considering banning Abakarova for life, but will wait on the outcome of the police investigation.