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morphballganon ,

Is it a first?

Or is it the first time they got caught?

Johnmannesca ,
@Johnmannesca@lemmy.world avatar

Yes

breadsmasher ,
@breadsmasher@lemmy.world avatar

russians prove they can’t win anything legitimately

circuscritic ,

…this was a regional tournament, in the Caucasus Republic of Dagestan.

So calling them Russian is technically accurate, but really they are a brutalized and subjugated colonial subject of Russia.

Also, you’ll find this kind of crazy anywhere you go. She literally just dumped mercury around her opponents chess board when she thought no one was around to notice.

I get why it’s catching headlines, but give me a break. It’s just crazy being crazy.

HomerianSymphony ,

So calling them Russian is technically accurate

The word Russian has two meanings in English. It can mean relating to the country of Russia, or relating to the Rus ethnicity.

The Russian language distinguishes the two. The first is росси́йский. The second is ру́сский. Both words are translated as “Russian” in English, which causes confusion in English, but there’s no such confusion in Russian.

These people (Dagestanis) are Russian in the first sense, but not the second sense.

Historically, the second sense of “Russian” included Ukrainians and Belarussians (so you could say Ukrainians were Russian in the second sense, but not the first sense) but it’s become controversial to do so since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Mango ,

Dina would like a word.

breadsmasher ,
@breadsmasher@lemmy.world avatar

who?

Klear ,

Yeah! Take that Kasparov! You can’t win anything!

originalucifer ,
@originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com avatar

this was a death in paradise episode!

s11e08

Moonrise2473 ,

Lol just learned about that series. 100+ murders in the span of a few years in a remote Island with 10k population? Sounds plausible

originalucifer ,
@originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com avatar

haha yeah, the murder rate is a bit steep. as someone else said who had pointed it out to me on lemmy, its like comfort food. you kinda know what youre getting, but the characters are well written.

TheBigBrother ,

If chess players do this, what do you think Russian secret service it’s capable of?

catloaf ,

I’m surprised it actually worked. Liquid mercury isn’t really that harmful, it’s the vapors that get you. I’d be concerned about it affecting me too, since I’d also be sitting at the board.

TheBigBrother ,

Kamikaze poisoning… people at both sides will be suspects, seems like a good plan.

TriflingToad ,

ever watched the princess bride?

KazuyaDarklight ,
@KazuyaDarklight@lemmy.world avatar

Filters shoved deep in the nostrils maybe?

stoly ,

I’m no chemist but understand the liquid mercury is safe to handle for short periods provided you wash your hands well. It can absorb through your skin over time though.

Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

It just says attempted poisoning so I’m not even sure it did actually work.

Gsus4 , (edited )

It’s a product of the state of a country that calls Gary Kasparov a terrorist. chess.com/…/russia-issues-arrest-warrant-for-kasp…

AshMan85 ,

Sounds Russian.

bdonvr ,

Seeing as mercury fumes are the real danger (you can fairly safely handle elemental mercury, it won’t absorb into the skin) this seems like an exceptionally poor poisoning attempt. Maybe if you put a fan behind you so the fumes only waft into the opponents face…

DoctorButts ,

What an imbecile. Mercury is a planet. It is too large to be hidden anywhere on a chess board

homesweethomeMrL ,

I hear it’s in Gatorade

cdf12345 ,

This comment is an underrated gem.

Bravo sir.

Bocky ,

Gators are too big to fit in the bottles, can’t be that

strawberry ,

not in microwave?

some_guy OP ,

Wrong. Mercury is a god. He’s much too powerful to do the biddings of a puny mortal.

makyo ,

You’re both wrong, it’s a car. I’m pretty crazy about one though.

perslue ,

You all were close but, still wrong. Marie Curie was a scientist.

wildncrazyguy138 ,

And that scientists name? Albert Einstein.

veloxization ,
@veloxization@yiffit.net avatar

You’re also wrong. He’s a singer known as Freddie. And I don’t know what kind of necromancy was used to get him on a chess board.

Evil_Shrubbery ,

what kind of necromancy

This whole thread is a clue about that.

The necromancers used myrrh & curry.

homesweethomeMrL ,

I told y’all in 2020 - build a giant fence around there and nobody go in for 100 years. After that we’ll check on ‘em. But nooooo “it’s too expensive” pfffft. And now look - it’s . . . whatever this is!

The_Picard_Maneuver ,
@The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world avatar

What a bizarre way to try to murder someone. And over a chess game? I know Russians take their chess seriously, but this is insane.

ohwhatfollyisman ,

wait till you hear about their approach to roulette!

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

Ok, this was really good

Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

How would it have poisoned just his rival and not also him? Touching it doesn’t do much unless you’re submerging your skin in it for long periods. The fumes would affect everyone. And it’s very unlikely his opponent would have licked the board to ingest the mercury.

floofloof ,

How would it have poisoned just his rival and not also him?

Don’t know, but both players were women.

mightyfoolish ,

Suicide chess player?

general_kitten , (edited )

Organic mercury compounds can look like water and absorb quickly through skin, they can be potent enough for just a drop on your skin being deadly, even if you have gloves as it can penetrate quickly through many different rubbers. Metallic doesn’t kill you even if you ate it*. With metallic mercury highest risk is vapours but unless you heat it it will only become a problem in poorly ventalated areas.

*assuming you have no open wounds on your digestive tract and minor chronic damage might be still caused depending on amount and frequency.

HomerianSymphony ,

Metallic doesn’t kill you even if you ate it

The article says it’s safe to touch and even swallow, but inhaling it causes problems consistent with the victim’s symptoms.

ohwhatfollyisman ,

it was all a result of a misunderstanding. his coach told him to focus on the H, G files of the chessboard and he heard that as something else.

HomerianSymphony ,

*she

ohwhatfollyisman ,

ah, so it was another misunderstanding, then. she was taught that the queen can do absolutely anything on the chess board and proceeded accordingly.

IzzyScissor ,

It took me way too long to realize this was supposed to be a joke because Hg is the chemical symbol for Mercury. Such an easy thing to mishear.

nieceandtows ,

Should have used polonium instead, like the dear leader

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