A Russian chess queen allegedly poured poison onto the board set to be used by her opponent, who became ill just before the tournament started.

The CCTV footage was captured at the Dagestan Chess Championship, where the woman can be seen entering the room at the Chess Club, pouring the chemical onto the board before wiping it with a chess piece to disguise it, and then walking away.

She was later identified as 40-year-old North Caucasus Federal District chess champion Amina Abakarova, and her opponent Umayganat Osmanova, with whom she had reportedly been in conflict for a long time.

Abakarova was seen behaving suspiciously 20 minutes before the contest started and asked if the cameras were set up to record the games being played were working, yet when she was told they were not, she decided to carry out the plan.

But she did not realise that they had been switched on in the room, ready for the event that took place on August 2 in Makhachkala, the capital of the Russian Republic of Dagestan.

Eyewitnesses said Osmanova, who was later sitting at the table where the substance was poured, was taken ill and hospitalised suffering from mercury poisoning.

When the CCTV footage was examined, the police were called.

They confirmed that an investigation was started under the charge of 'inflicting bodily harm'.

However, chess officials have not waited for the police report's results and confirm that Abakarova was immediately stripped of her title of Dagestan Chess Champion after they saw the footage.