In scenes reminiscent of the game's 20th century heyday, where dark rumours of subterfuge and sabotage swirled around countless Russian players, a chess player has been suspended from the game and faces up to three years in jail for poisoning her opponent… on camera.
Everything happened at the Dagestan Chess Championship on August 2 and was first reported by a Russian Telegram channel before reaching government media. Amina Abakarova, a 40 year-old player from the Russian Republic of Dagestan, was scheduled to play Umayganat Osmanova, a 30 year-old longtime rival who had beaten Abakarova into second place in a tournament the week prior. The pair had known each other for years, and had recently been involved in a close-run match that was awarded to Osmanova.
