# Alleged poisoning at chess tournament **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** chess\ **Created:** [August 8, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424 "2024-08-08T13:25:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/1 "2024-08-08T13:25:57Z")
There’s the drive to win, and then there’s an unhealthy competitive streak. I think she should get more time, personally. (Where do I find these weird stories?) > **[Chess Player Suspended After Allegedly Poisoning Her Rival](https://www.chess.com/news/view/russian-chess-player-suspended-after-allegedly-poisoning-her-rival)** > > A chess player has been suspended by the Russian Chess Federation and is reportedly facing time in jail after she allegedly tried to poison her rival near the chess board during a tournament. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/2 "2024-08-08T13:35:20Z")
_Mercury_? That’s ridiculous. Mercury doesn’t _smear_, and it’s a cumulative, not acute poison. That article is either wrong or a fake. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/3 "2024-08-08T13:38:48Z")
Are mercury fumes a thing? Could that have caused sickness? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/4 "2024-08-08T13:39:42Z")
Sure, and in 10 years you will exhibit neurological symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/5 "2024-08-08T13:40:33Z")
I think its more likely misunderstanding and misinformation. Elemental mercury is not as fast acting or as ‘deadly’ as reported. However, mercuric compounds can be deadly, though I don’t know how ‘fast acting.’ Also the perpetrator has to be careful handling these things. I’m definitely in the camp that the reporting is wrong on some level, and there is something else going on that we are not privy to. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/6 "2024-08-08T13:41:35Z")
If this story is legit, Law and Order will be making an episode about it–that is totally “fictional and not based on reality” or however they put it–this season. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/7 "2024-08-08T13:42:45Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > _Mercury_? > That’s ridiculous. Mercury doesn’t _smear_, and it’s a cumulative, not acute poison. That article is either wrong or a fake. Or that woman had no idea what she was doing… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/8 "2024-08-08T13:42:50Z")
Maybe she’s just a really incompetent poisoner. She thought that she’d be able to sicken her opponent this way, even though it wouldn’t actually work. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/9 "2024-08-08T13:44:25Z")
Though the other person did report some symptoms. As did another, according to the story. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/10 "2024-08-08T14:26:01Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Are mercury fumes a thing? Could that have caused sickness? It worked in _The Handmaiden_… ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/11 "2024-08-08T14:31:34Z")
Meh. This is the **Russian** Chess Federation reporting this. It’s probably a frame-up for some political reason. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/12 "2024-08-08T14:40:44Z")
That did not occur to me. I guess I need to be more careful. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/13 "2024-08-08T17:01:37Z")
Whatever poison was used, her falling out the window was completely unrelated. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/14 "2024-08-09T02:19:11Z")
Many among us on this board played with liquid mercury as children, rolling it around in our hands. It would be insufficient to sicken someone this quickly. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/15 "2024-08-09T04:22:32Z")
Ars Technica has pretty good coverage of the ins+outs of this one. > **[In world first, Russian chess player poisons rival’s board with mercury](https://arstechnica.com/culture/2024/08/in-world-first-russian-chess-player-poisons-rivals-board-with-mercury/)** > > At least it wasn't novichok. > [@](#): > > Such symptoms are consistent with exposure to elemental mercury, the liquid or “quicksilver” version of mercury sometimes used in thermometers. According to the [Cleveland Clinic](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23420-mercury-poisoning), this form of mercury is “usually harmless if you touch or swallow it because its slippery texture won’t absorb into your skin or intestines.” But if you breathe in any of it, watch out—symptoms occur “immediately” and can include coughing, breathing trouble, nausea, bleeding gums, and a “metallic taste in your mouth.” So, I don’t know how she may have breathed it. But it seems that she experienced symptoms that would match inhalation. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/16 "2024-08-09T07:18:29Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Many among us on this board played with liquid mercury as children, rolling it around in our hands. That certainly explains some things…… I’m kidding, couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/17 "2024-08-09T11:24:49Z")
Posted in the Omnibus chess thread: > [@Omnibus Chess News Thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-chess-news-thread/978801/74): > > Was the aim to sicken the opponent, win, the match, or both? Brian Brian ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/18 "2024-08-09T11:35:30Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I’m definitely in the camp that the reporting is wrong on some level, and there is something else going on that we are not privy to. Ditto. Even if Amina is an idiot and chose Mercury as her poison, it wouldn’t produce that kind of immediate effect. Perhaps they got the Mercury thing wrong or perhaps, as mentioned, it is a hoax. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/19 "2024-08-09T13:00:35Z")
But the chess tournament has a [new theme song!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZWgadswjmk) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424/20 "2024-08-09T13:19:19Z")
I’d also accept this old banger. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hgnhVcyLy1I/maxresdefault.jpg "Bell Biv DeVoe - Poison") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgnhVcyLy1I) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alleged-poisoning-at-chess-tournament/1005424.md?page=2)