In world first, Russian chess player poisons rival's board with
mercury

At least it wasn't novichok.

Russia is no stranger to unique poisonings. State agents have been
known to use everything from polonium-laced tea to the deadly nerve
agent "novichok" when making assassination attempts against both
defectors in the UK and internal political rivals like Alexei Navalny.
But a new "first" in the long history of poisonings was opened this
month in the Russian republic of Dagestan, where a 40-something chess
player named Amina Abakarova attempted to poison a rival by depositing
liquid mercury on and around her chess board.

https://arstechnica.com/culture/2024/08/in-world-first-russian-chess-player-poisons-rivals-board-with-mercury/

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JAB <[email protected]d> writes:

In world first, Russian chess player poisons rival's board with
mercury

At least it wasn't novichok.

Russia is no stranger to unique poisonings. State agents have been
known to use everything from polonium-laced tea to the deadly nerve
agent "novichok" when making assassination attempts against both
defectors in the UK and internal political rivals like Alexei Navalny.
But a new "first" in the long history of poisonings was opened this
month in the Russian republic of Dagestan, where a 40-something chess
player named Amina Abakarova attempted to poison a rival by depositing
liquid mercury on and around her chess board.

https://arstechnica.com/culture/2024/08/in-world-first-russian-chess-player-poisons-rivals-board-with-mercury/

This a very curious. Many kids of my generation played with elemental
mercury as a toy substance. Some teachers allowed students to put Hg
metal on a coin to demonstrate silver/mercury amalgam and allowed the
students to take the Hg-bearing coin home. None of us has exhibited
chronic "mad hatter" symptoms, let alone immediate acute poisoning
effects.

Yes, elemental Hg is potentially toxic and Hg at room temp does
evaporate, emiting tiny amounts of Hg vapor. But engendering prompt
symptoms of illness or cognitive impairment from "depositing" Hg
(which doesn't stick to much of anything except metals w/ which it
formas amalgams and rolls away as tiny beads) from a thermometer around
the chess board puts my bogometer in the red.

--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada

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On 09 Aug 2024 17:33:49 -0300, Mike Spencer
<[email protected]e> wrote:

This a very curious. Many kids of my generation played with elemental >mercury as a toy substance.

Yes, yes...in my hands too...

the chess board puts my bogometer in the red.

Maybe something else was added....


"She then approaches her opponent's table, takes what appears to be a
vial from her bag, and pours the substance on the pieces before
looking around the room again.

The victim required medical treatment after experiencing "severe
dizziness and nausea" during the game, but she was able to continue
with the tournament.

It is claimed that Ms Abakarova poisoned Umayganat Osmanova in an act
of revenge after she insulted her last Friday.

She is now facing up to three years behind bars for the incident. "

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/russia-chess-poison-mercury-video-b2593186.html

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On Fri, 9 Aug 2024, Auric Hellman wrote:

On 8/9/2024 8:36 AM, JAB wrote:

In world first, Russian chess player poisons rival's board with
mercury

At least it wasn't novichok.

Russia is no stranger to unique poisonings. State agents have been
known to use everything from polonium-laced tea to the deadly nerve
agent "novichok" when making assassination attempts against both
defectors in the UK and internal political rivals like Alexei Navalny.
But a new "first" in the long history of poisonings was opened this
month in the Russian republic of Dagestan, where a 40-something chess
player named Amina Abakarova attempted to poison a rival by depositing
liquid mercury on and around her chess board.

https://arstechnica.com/culture/2024/08/in-world-first-russian-chess-player-poisons-rivals-board-with-mercury/

I was fortunate during the mid-60s to have been acquainted with Fr. William Lombardi, who was Bobby Fischer's second in his famous match versus Boris Spassky. He told me these guys are as competitive and will try anything to undermined their opponent.

I'm not surprised at all. I think all sportsmen on the elite level who
compete internationally must be enormously competitive.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

D wrote:

On Fri, 9 Aug 2024, Auric Hellman wrote:

I was fortunate during the mid-60s to have been acquainted
with Fr. William Lombardi, who was Bobby Fischer's second
in his famous match versus Boris Spassky. He told me these
guys are as competitive and will try anything to undermined
their opponent.

I'm not surprised at all. I think all sportsmen on the elite
level who compete internationally must be enormously
competitive.

There's competitive and then there's "competitive"... just ask
Hans Niemann!

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This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text,
while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools.

On Sat, 10 Aug 2024, Blueshirt wrote:

D wrote:

On Fri, 9 Aug 2024, Auric Hellman wrote:

I was fortunate during the mid-60s to have been acquainted
with Fr. William Lombardi, who was Bobby Fischer's second
in his famous match versus Boris Spassky. He told me these
guys are as competitive and will try anything to undermined
their opponent.

I'm not surprised at all. I think all sportsmen on the elite
level who compete internationally must be enormously
competitive.

There's competitive and then there's "competitive"... just ask
Hans Niemann!

Touché!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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