There are times when life takes such crazy, bizarrely Machiavellian paths that it’s hard to write about it without falling into the (literal) tired cliché that reality is stranger than fiction. Russia left us an example. And good ones. There, in Makhachkala, in the Republic of Dagestan, there was an alleged poisoning that would be worthy of a Netflix detective thriller. The setting: a regional chess tournament. The protagonists: two chess players with outstanding bills.

Yes, worthy of the Queen’s Gambit.

The story begins in a remote room on August 2 MakhachkalaA chess tournament was to be held in the capital of Dagestan in southern Russia.

Caught red-handed

Before the contestants sat down at their boards and the first pawn went in, security cameras recorded one of the players sneaking up to one of the tables attached to the wall and leaning over the pieces. Her name: Amina Abakarova, a 43-year-old chess player.

When viewed in perspective, record descriptorbut at that moment, cameras caught a woman walking between the tables a few minutes before the competition was due to start. She looked restless, nervous, looking left and right and making hasty movements, true; but at the end of the day, the tournament was less than half an hour away. Who wouldn’t be nervous?

What Abakarova did after she stood in front of one of the tournament-ready boards was even more suspicious: There, the woman appeared to take a small object from her bag and quickly pour a liquid onto the white pieces.

It’s no coincidence that he did it on that exact board and on that side of the table. That’s the position another tournament player will be sitting in 20 minutes later. Emeviganat OsmanovaHe is 30 years old, according to data managed by Chess.com.

The surprise came shortly after setting off when Osmanova began to feel unwell, with nausea and an inexplicable discomfort in her throat.

She later told Russia Today: “I still feel bad. In the first minutes I felt short of breath and a taste of iron in my mouth.” Not only that. Other media outlets reporting the incident claim that in addition to feeling unwell, they also saw what appeared to be traces of mercury on the woman’s table.

Osmanova’s dizziness and nausea became so intense that the woman had to call a doctor. When we examined her, the diagnosis was resounding: The chess player’s symptoms matched a case of poisoning.

One of the competition judges took a sample of the substance he saw on Osmanova’s table and reported it to the police. Police reviewed the security cameras and saw the following: secret movements Abakarova and the (few) missing pieces in this chess mystery have finally fallen into place.

There was an alleged victim.

There was an alleged crime.

Allegedly there was a gun.

And there was an alleged culprit.

“We have video evidence showing that Amina Abakarova from Makhachkala, a player in the Dagestan chess championship, applied an unidentified substance, later found to contain mercury, to the table occupied by Umayganat Osmanova from Kaspiysk. Local authorities agreed that they would play against it.

This case is so exceptional that it made headlines in Russia and other countries. Sun, Telepragh or CNN. Authorities are investigating what happened, and the Russian Chess Federation has temporarily suspended Abakarova for the alleged “attempted poisoning,” although the organization has already said it would ban her for life if a court finds her guilty.

But staying outside the world of professional chess the least of the problemsRTVI assures that Russian police arrested Abakarov at the scene, and the investigation is focused on an alleged crime punishable by several years in prison under the Criminal Code. Telegram We are talking about maturities of up to 72 months.

One question remains: what prompted Abakarova to devise such an elaborate poisoning plan against Osmanova? The head of the Dagestan Sports Department, Sazhida Sazhidova, admitted that she was “confused” and could not explain why an “experienced” chess player like Abakarova wanted to get her opponent, whom she had known for years, drunk.

“Incompressible.”

“The actions he took, a tragic outcome“He is endangering the lives of everyone present, including his own. Now he must answer for his actions before the law,” the Russian leader stressed. Some media outlets, such as RTVI, claim that in addition to Osmanova, the mercury also affected another young woman and one of the members of the tournament organization.

While we wait for the mystery to be solved, reports are already circulating suggesting that the alleged poisoning could be explained by personal and sporting disputes.

Which? The versions do not always coincide from one medium to another. Some claim that Abakarova confessed to other chess players that her opponent had “severely offended” her, said “unpleasant things” about her and her family behind her back, and that this had created a “personal enmity” between the two.

Other media recall that they recently faced each other in a final where, despite both players reaching the same points, Osmanova managed to win by a minimal margin, upsetting her opponent.

His purpose with Mercury may have been to “scare” Osmanova.

She did it, but Chess.com reveals that whether she was scared or not, mercury poisoned or not, Umayganat Osmanova managed to finish the tournament. Makhachkala to be in a good position and take home an award… And a considerable fear.

If there is a time when reality exists… you know: it lags behind Hollywood’s most absurd and Machiavellian scenarios.

Image | Wikipedia (Bionerd)

At Xataka | 10 years old, Argentinian and just defeated Magnus Carlsen: the emergence of the “Messi of Chess”